Beyoncé's father sues The Sun for 'maliciously' misrepresenting his relationship with his daughter

Beyoncé pictured with her father Matthew Knowles in 2005 (Getty Images)

Beyoncé’s father Matthew Knowles is suing The Sun for defamation over claims the paper “knowingly and maliciously” misrepresented his relationship with his daughter, whom he managed until 2011.

In the lawsuit, filed in Houston’s US district court, Knowles claims the newspaper fabricated a story about “a bitter rift with his famous daughter”.

The lawsuit alleges that The Sun changed some of reporter Georgia Dickinson’s article before going to print.

It states that Dickinson’s unpublished story discussed how Knowles and his daughter “severed professional ties,” but that “thankfully despite their professional split he remains close to his family and loves nothing more than being a granddad to his daughter’s newborn baby girl”.

The legal claim suggests The Sun changed Dickinson’s article to state Knowles had a “bitter rift with his famous daughter- admitting he is devastated at being pushed out of her life”.

Knowles contacted Dickinson after publication of the interview and was told she could “only apologise that someone in London, not me” changed the story.

She claimed that the London editors were “wary of saying [Beyoncé's father] had definitely met” his granddaughter, despite footage in Beyonce’s HBO documentary him holding Blue Ivy.

In addition to the alleged defamation, Knowles and his company Music World Entertainment are pursuing The Sun for breach of contract. They claim the newspaper had agreed to pay Knowles in exchange for receiving the UK’s only interview with him, but he states he never received his fee.

He told E! television earlier this week: “The Sun, like any newspaper, needs to maintain a basic level of journalistic integrity.

“No matter how many papers it sells or web hits it generates…[it] needs to be held responsible for its lies. This happens too often to too many people, and it is simply unfair.”

The Sunhas yet to respond to the lawsuit.