BEYONCE RESPONDS TO CRITICISM OF CUBA TRIP ON 'GOOD MORNING AMERICA'

BEYONCE & AMY ROBACH

Beyonce defended her vacation to Cuba and said she found the red-hot criticism of the controversial journey “shocking.”

The pop star and husband Jay-Z celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary last month in Havana, drawing fire from conservative Cuban-American lawmakers.The couple had previously remained silent about their eye-opening journey.
"You know, it was such a beautiful trip,” Beyonce said in an interview aired today on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“I met some incredible children. I visited some incredible entrepreneurs.”

A half-century-old US embargo against Cuba prevents most Americans from traveling there.
Restrictions have eased under President Obama, with more Americans traveling there for US-approved cultural and academic ventures.
Jay-Z and his wife got permission to visit Cuba, through the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The famous songbird, though, still couldn’t grasp why Cuban expatriates would be so bitter about her vacation.
“And it was really, it was really educational for me. I learned so much about so many people and the country, and it [the criticism] was actually quite shocking," she said.
Beyonce is out promoting her upcoming animated movie “EPIC.” She hopes her daughter Blue Ivy will recognize mommy’s voice on the screen.
"I was actually pregnant at the time. And I thought, 'You know, by the time this comes out my daughter will … understand it's my voice and what an incredible, cool point,' " Beyonce said,
The movie comes to theaters on May 24 and will also include the voices of Aziz Ansari, Amanda Seyfried, Pitbull and Steven Tyler.