On Aug. 22, the 2024 Democratic National Convention came to a close, with Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepting her nomination to be the Democratic presidential, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accepting his spot as her running mate. It was a jam-packed four days filled with speeches, meetings, and celebrity sightings — but while it was an exciting event for many reasons, a lot of viewers at home (and likely in-person audience members, too) were feeling like they were missing something. That’s because the 2024 DNC “special guest” that was rumored to appear on the final night of the convention never showed up.
To be clear, the DNC never promised there would be a special guest. But that didn’t stop people online from speculating wildly. The idea that a mystery appearance would be made on the final night of the DNC seems to have been sparked when people discovered there was half an hour blocked off in the night’s schedule where no one was listed as speaking or performing. Many took this to mean the slot was being held for a yet-to-be-announced appearance that was being kept under wraps. (However, Deadline has since confirmed the half hour was built in as a buffer in case the night’s events veered off schedule, ensuring Harris still had all the time she needed for her speech at the end.)
Rumors were also fueled by a TMZ report that Beyoncé would be the surprise guest. (TMZ later issued a corrected admitting to getting the reporting wrong.) This comes after weeks of speculation that Bey would show up and endorse Harris, considering she allowed Harris’s campaign to use her song “Freedom.” Fans also speculated Taylor Swift could be the surprise guest, since she just wrapped up the European leg of her Eras tour.
All throughout the night, viewers tuned in to see if their predictions would come true, or if they’d be surprised by a different guest. However, as the night went on (and on, and on — the DNC went til late), viewers started getting sillier and sillier with their predictions, and the memes about the 2024 DNC’s surprise guest got better and better.
Some even joked that maybe there was a surprise guest, but they backed out after realizing they’d never live up to the Beyoncé or Taylor Swift hype. Others suggested maybe Bey was supposed to show but, for some reason or another, decided to dip.
Eventually, though, the good people of the internet came to realize there was not going to be a special guest after all. And still, they had jokes about that, too.
All this said, despite feeling let down by not seeing Bey, Tay, or some other major superstar at the DNC, viewers online still ended up having a good time joking about the lack of a mystery guest reveal.
Who needs a surprise concert or speech when you have memes, right?