Kelly Rowland is giving some insight into what really happened during her now-viral moment on the Cannes red carpet.
Source: Colby Tallia/amfAR / Getty
On Tuesday night, during her appearance at the premiere of Marcello Mio, the singer appeared to be rushed off of the red carpet and up the stairs by a staff member at the festival.
As Rowland stands and poses for the many photographers snapping her photo, video shows an usher signaling toward Kelly, telling her twice to start walking up the stairs at the Palais de Festivals. As she then makes her way up the staircase, three more ushers all surround her, essentially forcing her to the right of the stairs.
A moment later, Rowland quickly turns around to wave at someone behind her, which is when two more ushers make their way toward the singer, blocking her view with their hands and leading her up the stairs.
One usher in particular held her arm out for a while, hovering behind Rowland’s back. Kelly then touched the usher’s arm and smiled at her, seemingly trying to tell her the force was unnecessary, but the woman did not budge, keeping her arm in place. At the point, Rowland seems to speak very sternly with the usher, upset over how she’s being treated by staff at the carpet, though it’s unclear what words were exchanged between the two.
After the video made its way online, fans were upset over who the Destiny’s Child star was treated, wanting to hear the full story. Now, Rowland is speaking on the incident for the first time, pointing out that a lot of other women on the carpet “did not quite look like me” didn’t get treated the same way.
“The woman knows what happened,” she told AP on Thursday. “I know what happened. And, I have a boundary. And I stand by those boundaries. And that is it.”
She continued, “And 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, and she felt like she had to stand hers. But, I stood my ground. And that was it.”
Cannes Film Festival has yet to respond to the backlash surrounding the video.
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