Kelly Rowland was seen in what appeared to be a tense moment with security while on the red carpet at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Posing for photographers and waving to fans at the premiere of the French-Italian film Marcello Mio on Tuesday, May 21, Rowland, 43, was ushered by security officials to ascend the red carpet’s famed stairs, in footage shared via X.
In the video, a security staff member can be seen encouraging Rowland up the staircase, placing a hand behind the singer’s back and verbalizing instructions to her, as Rowland begins to ascend.
However, the exchange takes a heated turn as the singer then appears to scold the staff member, pointing her finger in the official’s face.
Rowland makes her way almost to the top of the stairs before she turns to the staff member to share her final thoughts. Several red carpet officials then appear to close in on the security guard to diffuse the situation.
Social media users attempted to lipread Rowland’s dialogue in the clip, with some believing the “Motivation” singer tells the security guard, “Don’t talk to me like that.”
While the singer has yet to address the tense moment, she did share a photo of herself on the red carpet via Instagram Stories hours later, captioning the post, “Fun in Cannes.”
The awkward incident comes after the former Destiny’s Child star made headlines earlier this year for reportedly walking off the set of the Today show.
We have a video! Do we have lip readers? 😂 https://t.co/uEBtMJFxB8 pic.twitter.com/vQmMH8JFG5
— I Choose Violence (@ourhermitage) May 21, 2024
After being interviewed by Savannah Guthrie on February 15, Rowland was set to fill in for Jenna Bush Hager as a cohost during the fourth hour of the show.
Instead, Rita Ora stepped into the role alongside Hoda Kotb.
During an appearance with Chicago’s WGN News on February 22, Rowland was asked whether she’d like to explain why she opted not to fulfill her cohosting duty. “No, because I’m so excited and delighted to be here to talk about the movie and nothing else,” she responded.
Multiple outlets reported that Rowland’s departure from Today was due to being disappointed with her dressing room. Guthrie, 52, later seemingly admitted that Rowland’s concerns were valid.
“We need a remodel. We need Extreme Makeover: Today Show Dressing Room Edition,” Guthrie joked to Entertainment Tonight in an interview on February 21. “We are in a historic studio, 1A. It’s the same studio that has been used for decades. It’s incredible and it’s iconic, but it’s old.”
