Beyoncé means the world to her father, Mathew Knowles.
So insists Knowles himself in a defamation lawsuit filed against London's Sun tabloid, which, he claims in a statement released to E! News, interviewed him and then "knowingly and maliciously misrepresented [his] relationship with his daughter, Beyoncé, and with his granddaughter," Blue Ivy Carter.
In the article in question, dated March 24, 2013, The Sun teases the story with the sub-headlines "Former manager talks about family rift for the first time" and "Mathew Knowles has reportedly not yet met Blue Ivy."
The story also states: "Although he insists the decision to go their separate ways was mutual, Mathew, 61, is hurt that Beyoncé has cut him out of her life."
In his statement, Knowles calls foul on those three particular assertions.
"My daughters and my family mean the world to me," he said. "The barrage of repeated falsehoods spawned by the British Sun's defamatory article has been exhausting and personally damaging to me. No matter how many papers it sells or web hits it generates, The Sun, like any newspaper, needs to maintain a basic level of journalistic integrity. The Sun crossed the line when it went after my family. The Sun needs to be held responsible for its lies in a court of law. This happens too often to too many people, and it is simply unfair."
Meanwhile, the paper also quotes Knowles in the article as saying, "'Normally I hate to talk about anything personal, but it would be a lie if I did not say it has been difficult. It was hard for me to let her go—it was hard for both of us to let each other go. And let's be clear on that. She didn't let me go, we both let each other go. That's a big difference."
Knowles is suing The Sun for unspecified damages, alleging defamation and breach of contract.
News Corp. has not yet returned a request for comment.
"He is my father for life and I love my dad dearly," Beyoncé said in a statement in 2011 upon announcing that she and her dad, who had managed her career since her Destiny's Child days, were parting ways "on a business level."
