Former Destiny’s Child star Kelly Rowland was in attendance at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21. One of the security guards appeared to be giving directions to the Grammy Award-winning artist. And from the looks of her reaction, she appeared to use a tone that upset Rowland.
Rowland was very expressive about her displeasure, scolding the security guard for their behavior. So the video quickly went viral on social media. Fans were waiting for Rowland to respond to the incident.
Kelly Rowland talks to @APEntertainment about the Cannes Film Festival incident:
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 23, 2024
“There were other women that attended that carpet who did not quite look like me and they didn’t get scolded or pushed off or told to get off. And, I stood my ground.” pic.twitter.com/ZJucuoamva
Kelly Rowland Responds to Viral Exchange
On May 23 they got their wish. When discussing the incident, Rowland told the Associated Press that she was being firm about her boundaries.
“That woman knows what happened. I know what happened,” she said of the viral incident. “I have a boundary and I stand by those boundaries.”
In addition, the “Motivation” artist also seemed to allude that the incident was racially charged. She noted that she was being treated differently than the other guests. It was one of the reasons she was so visibly upset.
“There were other women that attended that carpet who did not quite look like me and they didn’t get scolded or pushed off, or told to get off,” Rowland added.
“I stood my ground and she felt like she had to stand hers. But I stood my ground.”
Reason For Star’s Stern Reaction Revealed
Rowland didn’t go into much detail about her and the security guard’s spirited exchange. Page Six employed an expert lip reader to decode what she was saying in the video.
“Don’t talk to me like that. Don’t talk to me like that,” she said. “You’re not my mother. I told you not to talk to me like that.”
It remains unclear exactly what was said by the security guard to trigger that reaction from Rowland. But one source close to the situation said that many of the security guards were “being aggressive,” that night.
The source also notes that the star initially tried to ignore it. However, she got fed up.
“The people who are assigned to helping stars walk the red carpet were being aggressive and Kelly was trying to ignore it,” the source said.
“By the time (Rowland) got to the last woman she had had it because she scolded Kelly and told her to move when she was trying to wave to fans and help the paparazzi get their shot.”