Kelly Rowland Talks Cannes Security Incident
Kelly Rowland has clarified her viral encounter with a security employee at Cannes.
Speaking with the Associated Press in a video shared to the wire service’s Instagram, the former Destiny’s Child member stood by her decision to call out the staffer for alleged mistreatment. “The woman knows what happened, I know what happened,” she said. “I have a boundary and I stand by those boundaries and that is it.”
She also noted that 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 then delved into what actually happened in the clip, saying, “I stood my ground and she felt like she had to stand hers.”
At the Tuesday premiere of Marcello Mio at Cannes, Rowland had a tense exchange with an usher, who kept touching the singer’s arm to rush her into the theater. The artist, who was upset over the staffer crossing her physical boundaries, called out the woman’s behavior.
A lip reading expert told Page Six that Rowland appeared to tell the usher during their exchange, “Don’t talk to me like that. Don’t talk to me like that. You’re not my mother. I told you not to talk to me like that.”
When the woman refused to back down from her actions, Rowland’s companions stepped in, defending the singer. However, the usher kept pushing the group up the Palais des Festivals staircase.
It’s not uncommon for red carpet security at Cannes to be strict. With a tight schedule, they tend to rush attendees into the theater so films can start promptly, as there are multiple screenings per night. In 2018, Cannes banned selfies on the red carpet to stop guests from lingering outside before screenings. Those who violate this rule often find their phones confiscated or security personnel covering their camera lenses.
