It turns out that Mathew Knowles plans to fight being fired by his pop superstar daughter Beyoncé.

And he's come up with a doozy of a conspiracy theory to make his case in a battle that only figures to get uglier for Houston's most prominent celebrity family. Mathew Knowles filed a petition in Harris County Monday, charging that reps from concert-promoting giant Live Nation told Beyoncé that he had "stolen money from Beyoncé on her most recent tour." Celebrity-gossip specialists TMZ first reported the news of the legal filing.

In his filing, Mathew Knowles maintains that the theft charges are absolutely false and that Live Nation made up the allegations in order to gain control of his daughter's mega-million-dollar career. He acknowledges in the petition that Beyoncé hired a law firm to conduct an audit — and that the audit concluded he took money that wasn't rightfully his — but Mathew Knowles argues that the results of the audit were flawed because they were based on false information supplied by Live Nation officials.

Papa Knowles goes on to charge that Live Nation reps told Beyoncé that her dad was taking money after the company failed to secure the rights to her worldwide tour. He is asking the court to let his lawyers take depositions of various Live Nation officials, which would set the groundwork for a possible lawsuit.

Did you really think Mathew Knowles was going to go quietly?

When Beyoncé announced that she was dropping her dad as manager in March, both the star and her father issued statements claiming that the split was amicable. "He is my father for life and I love my dad dearly," Beyoncé said in her statement at the time. "I am grateful for everything he has taught me."

Beyoncé's camp was not issuing any statements Monday night. Live Nation officials also declined comment.

Mathew Knowles managed Beyoncé from her very first Destiny's Child days till the firing earlier this year. He'd seen her through her journey from an unknown to international superstar.

Do you think greedy promoters set him up and pushed him out? Or do you believe he only has himself to blame?