Beyonce's Show Ran Late, So She Paid $100K to Run the Trains

Taylor Swift isn't the only superstar on tour who's plunking down big bucks to treat her people well: And while Swift's was a gift to the people who work on her tour, Beyonce's was a gift for fans just trying to home from her concert. As NBC News reports, Beyonce had a show scheduled for Sunday night at FedEx Field in Washington, DC. As Fox5 reports, severe weather moved in to mess with the BeyHive, with heavy rain and lightning causing concert organizers to delay the show and issue a shelter-in-place order around 6:40pm. Fans outside the stadium were asked to return to their cars, and those inside were asked to shelter under concourse areas and ramps.

The weather was such that the stadium didn't start letting fans through til 8:40pm—which was getting tricky for those who needed to get home on the DC Metro, which normally closes at midnight on Sundays. So Beyonce, who's been on her Renaissance World Tour since May, offered up the money to keep the trains running an extra hour—at a cost of around $100,000.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority release read thusly: "Due to inclement weather ... Metro will extend the last train by an extra hour beyond the extended closing previously announced. The additional hour will be funded by the Tour to cover the $100,000 cost to run more trains, keep all 98 stations open for customers to exit, and other operational expenses." People notes that Beyonce declared her very soggy DC audience the winner of a little challenge she's been running while on tour. It's one that asks audience members to stay silent while she sings the lyrics "look around, everybody on mute" on her song "Energy." Last show is Sept. 27 in New Orleans. (More Beyonce stories.)