Kelly Rowland has addressed the viral video showing her heatedly scolding a female security guard at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday (21 May).
The actor and former Destiny’s Child singer was attending the world premiere of French director Christophe Honoré’s new comedy, Marcello Mio, when the incident occurred.
Speaking to AP Entertainment about the ordeal, Rowland said: “The woman knows what happened; I know what happened.
“I have a boundary, and I stand by those boundaries and that is it. And there were other women who attended that carpet, who did not look quite like me,” she added. “And they didn’t get scolded, or pushed off or told to get off. And I stood my ground, and she felt like she had to stand hers. But I stood my ground.”
In footage of the moment, Rowland, 43, was seen smiling and posing for photos as she made her way up the red carpet. A female security guard could be seen following her and guiding her away from the cameras as she attempted to stand for more photos.
The guard then appeared to accidentally step on the train of the star’s dress while continuing to place her hand close to Rowland’s back. The “Motivation” singer turned around to speak sternly to the guard – who appeared not to back down – before Rowland raised her finger to visibly scold her.
Other event staff appeared to calm the guard down as the singer walked away from the altercation. The guard could be seen laughing with colleagues.
Fans have since come to Rowland’s defense, with many feeling that the guard had been disrespectful toward her by standing on her dress and attempting to “rush” her up the stairs.
Rowland’s heated exchange comes months after she dropped out of co-hosting NBC’s Today with Hoda & Jenna. According to Page Six reports at the time, sources claimed that Rowland and her team “did not like the dressing room, so they decided to pull her off the show, leaving [Hoda Kotb] without a guest host for the 10am hour”.
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She had been scheduled to host NBC’s 10th-hour show with host Kotb to promote her latest Netflix movie, Mea Culpa.
Directed by Tyler Perry, Mea Culpa debuted on Netflix on 24 February. Rowland leads the thriller drama as criminal defense attorney Mea, who takes on the case of a seductive artist (Trevante Rhodes), accused of murdering his girlfriend.
