Alicia Keys' Most Controversial Moments Over The Years

Singer and pianist Alicia Keys may very well be a "superwoman," but that doesn't mean she's immune to making a mistake or two. When it comes to the most famous R&B vocalists of all time, Keys has certainly earned herself a spot on the list. Since she broke into the music scene in the early 2000s, with her hit album "Songs in A Minor," the singer-songwriter has imprinted herself on the minds of fans. Since then, she's gone on to win multiple Grammy awards and released chart-topping songs including her unforgettable collab with Jay-Z, "Empire State of Mind." 

In the process, the queen of the porcelain keys has become a major fixture in pop culture more generally too. But musical talent aside, the "No One" songstress is still very much a human capable of making mistakes. Unfortunately for Keys, as a celebrity, those mistakes seem to matter tenfold. Over the years, she has been caught up in a series of eyebrow-raising scandals that made even the most dedicated fans cringe. If you didn't know her name due to her music, you might have found out about the iconic singer through one of these highly publicized controversies.

In 2016, Alicia Keys stopped wearing makeup altogether and began to show off her real skin for what it is — freckles, perceived blemishes, and all.  In a world where the norm is for celebrities to wear layers of lipstick, foundation, and creams, the "If I Ain't Got You" singer told the industry a big "no thanks" and decided to stand out from the crowd. Speaking with Glamour UK, Keys revealed that she was at one point "addicted" to wearing cosmetics because of the constant pressure she felt from her line of work. "[A]s I got into the music world, it was what you did every day to do your television, or to do your shoot," she explained. "So, I did it because I thought that's what you're supposed to do." 

After kicking her makeup habit to the side, Keys also famously embraced a stellar skincare routine to accentuate her new lifestyle. Keys' genuineness even inspired the #NoMakeup movement among her social media followers. However, the movement was short-lived. Imagine everyone's surprise when Keys, an advocate for going makeup-free, suddenly began showing up to events wearing makeup again. 

Even more shockingly, the multi-talented musician even collaborated with cosmetic brand e.l.f to create a makeup line, too. Keys Soulcare. Fans were not happy about the backtracking. "Alicia Keys been on about not wearing makeup for years," one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, pointed out, then added, "so excuse me if I'm skeptical?!"

Celebrity relationships tend to be finicky, but no one can say that about the longtime love between Alicia Keys and her music producer husband, Swizz Beatz. According to Keys' memoir "More Myself," the powerful vocalist and industry specialist met as teenagers and had their first music collab together in 2008. Something magical happened during the partnership because two years later, Keys and Beatz tied the knot. The married couple now have two children, Egypt and Genesis, and are still going strong.

While the love between Keys and Beatz seems like a fairytale romance, not everyone was convinced that the musical power couple is as perfect as they seem. Before Beatz married Keys, he was married to another famous R&B singer named Mashonda Tifrere, with whom he also has a son. Mashonda has claimed that Keys was the reason her marriage with Beatz fell apart. In a 2009 social media letter captured by BET, Mashonda deemed Keys a homewrecker. "You know the role you played and you know how you contributed to the ending of my marriage," the singer addressed Keys. "You know that I asked you to step back and let me handle my family issues. Issues that you helped to create."

In 2012, Keys addressed the rumors. "[They] were apart for some time before we ever got together [...] that doesn't matter to those who take pleasure in trying to knock others down [...] there's no need to fight what's not true," she clarified in an interview with Jet (via BET).

Just like Grammy wins, Alicia Keys has also racked up a number of problematic statements over the years. The "Girl on Fire" singer came under fire herself when she appeared to place the blame on the government for the troubling lyrics found in some rap songs. In a May 2008 interview with Blender magazine, she stated, "'Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. 'Gangsta rap' didn't exist," (via the South Florida Times). However, amid intense backlash, Keys and her record label J Records quickly released a statement clarifying her comments and claiming that her words were misrepresented.

In 2023, Keys made another divisive comment that had fans up in arms. She shared a since-deleted photo of herself on Instagram and in the caption told followers that she would love to try paragliding someday. The fleeting comment seemed innocent enough on the surface, but timing is everything. Keys posted the pic around when a group of Hamas terrorists used paragliders to enter a music festival and kill innocent people. After her comment section was flooded with angry users calling her out for her insensitivity, Keys apologized via her Instagram Story, according to Page Six. "The post I shared was COMPLETELY unrelated in any way to the recent devastating loss of innocent lives," Keys penned.

Alicia Keys brought the house down as Usher's very first guest performer during his Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2024. While Usher and Keys obviously had a connection during their Super Bowl performance, that wasn't the only thing that caught people's attention. When fans went to rewatch her performance of "If I Ain't Got You" online, they noticed a major discrepancy. Apparently, Keys' voice slightly cracked during the opening of her rendition — which fans who watched the performance live clearly heard — but it was edited out in both the NFL YouTube video and the Apple Music video versions that were subsequently posted online. Honestly, though, many found it refreshing to hear a professional musician make a quick mistake, reminding us that we're all human, but editing out that gaffe left several other viewers feeling uneasy, including Robert Komaniecki, a music teacher at the University of British Columbia.

Last night Alicia Keys's voice cracked (first video), and fascinatingly, the official NFL YouTube channel appears to be attempting to erase that little moment, having edited it out in their upload (second video). pic.twitter.com/EM4k8rWT8c

— Robert Komaniecki (@Komaniecki_R) February 12, 2024

"I think some people are a little bit freaked out by that," Komaniecki admitted in an interview with CBC News. "That millions and millions of people can witness something happen, and then the official record will just carry no evidence that it happened, and there will be no acknowledgement that it changed." Could editing out mistakes from live shows become a regular thing in the future? It feels like a worrying development; a way to rewrite history and gaslight audiences. While it's unclear if Keys made the call to edit out the flub, she notably chose not to respond when fans voiced their concerns online.

Back in August 2024, Alicia Keys made waves online when she posted a since-deleted video wondering aloud, "What the f*** do DJs actually do? Like, I don't think they're remixing the song on the spot. I'm pretty sure they've programmed it ahead of time, so what are they actually doing?" According to a user who posted the clip to Threads, Keys swiftly took the clip down off TikTok, presumably because she was getting roasted so badly for it. 

The uploader also pointed out how the "Fallin'" hitmaker had tagged Swedish House Mafia, a popular DJ group, in the original video. And, after deleting the clip, Keys posted another video of her with the DJ group. Around the same time as the controversial clip dropped, the singer and Swedish House Mafia teamed up for their reimagined version of Kings Of Tomorrow's song, "Finally." Was this whole drama just a way to promote her new song?

To add insult to injury, Keys' husband, Swizz Beatz, actually began his career as a DJ. As such, if she was genuinely confused about the profession, wouldn't the Grammy winner just privately ask her former DJ spouse what it entailed, instead of posing the question online to millions of people? It was an odd move, ultimately resulting in hilarious burns like this tweet: "Alicia Keys is getting flamed by DJ's nationwide. I guess that girl is..... On fire."

Alicia Keys made headlines for all the wrong reasons on International Women's Day 2024. A massive, and very vocal supporter of women's rights throughout her celebrated career in the entertainment industry, the Grammy winner decided to host her third Women to Women summit in Saudi Arabia, which didn't exactly sit well with people, since the country has infamously restrictive rules for women. For instance, female citizens were only given the right to drive in 2018. Human rights activist Peter Tatchell was quoted by The Guardian voicing his disapproval of Keys' ill-advised venture. 

"No artists should be going to Saudi unless they speak out publicly to demand women's freedom and an end to other human rights abuses in the country, including the freeing of all political prisoners," he argued. Over on X, Tatchell facetiously described the "Empire State of Mind" hitmaker as a "feminist" because she was openly "collaborating with [the] misogynist" country. Keys posted her own tweet, keeping things positive: "Spent some time in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for my performance at the Formula 1 races! Wow!!! It was my first time visiting and so magical. The energy was crazyyyyy!!"