Kelly Rowland Hints Racism Caused Her Cannes Outburst

Kelly Rowland has broken her silence on a recent altercation that transpired between her and a female security guard at the Cannes Film Festival. Rowland alleged that the guard exhibited racist behavior, explaining that there were “other women who don’t look like me, who didn’t get scolded.”

On Wednesday, Rowland was seen sternly warning a security guard, with a source sharing that the people tasked with helping celebrities walk the red carpet were being “aggressive.”

The “Bad Hair” actress explained the viral confrontation she had with a security guard on Tuesday while she walked the red carpet for the French film “Marcello Mio” premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

In an interview with the Associated Press at the amfAR Cannes Gala in France on Thursday, Rowland seemingly accused the French woman of racial profiling. She noted that she was only standing her ground and defending herself from the disrespect the security woman allegedly meted at her, pointing out that other people weren’t treated like that.

“The woman knows what happened. I know what happened,” Rowland said. “And, I have a boundary. And I stand by those boundaries, and that is it.”

“There were other women who attended that carpet who did not quite look like me, and they didn’t get scolded or pushed off or told to get off,” she continued.

Looking chic in her flowing red gown for the event, Rowland appeared to be in a heated exchange with the security woman, who was meant to help her up the stairs and into the venue.

Rowland was pictured shouting and pointing her finger to caution the French woman as their heated exchange continued. According to the DailyMail, a lip reader, Jacqui Press, revealed what Rowland said, which helped understand what happened between the singer and security guard.

Press explained that the guard stepped on Rowland’s dress and apologized, but the “Think Like A Man” actress didn’t take it to heart, telling her, “It’s OK.”

The security guard then muttered something that annoyed Rowland, who responded, “Don’t talk to me like that.”

The exchange continued for a couple of minutes, with Rowland turning around to repeat the phrase several times. Then, a male security guard entered the situation, pressing to know what was causing the rise in temperatures.

Having gotten to the pinnacle stair, Rowland finally turned around and told her, “You still don’t talk to me like that!”

According to a source who spoke with the Daily Mail, the guards on the scene were overreaching and aggressively going about their duty, but Rowland had “had it” with them and was bent on not taking disrespect.

“The people who are assigned to helping stars walk the red carpet were being aggressive, and Kelly was trying to ignore it,” an insider told the news outlet. “By the time she 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.”

The source went further to say of Rowland, “She doesn’t care if she comes across like a diva if she knows that she is advocating for herself. She isn’t fake and wanted to set a clear boundary.”

Before the Cannes Film Festival, Rowland was the center of another issue when it was revealed she walked off the set of the “Today Show.”

At the time, reports claimed the singer did so because she was displeased with the dressing room she was given as it was allegedly too small.

“Kelly and her team were not happy. They did not like the dressing room, so they decided to pull her off the show, leaving [Hoda Kotb] without a guest host for the 10 a.m. hour,” a source told Page Six.

However, there were conflicting reports, as The Wrap claimed that the issue was not the dressing room size but was instead caused by Savannah Guthrie, the co-host of the “Today” show, asking Rowland questions about her friend Beyoncé.

The “Like This” singer recently opened up about her anxiety filming the erotic legal thriller, “Mea Culpa,” telling People in an interview that it “was quite an experience.”

“I remember being very nervous when I read the script and I remember thinking about everything that an erotic thriller possesses, and that made me very intimidated,” she said at the time. “And then I had a friend of mine who called me, and he said, ‘You know, Kel, if it doesn’t scare you, what’s the purpose of doing it?'”

“And so I literally ran to it. I figured everything out. Tyler was so amazing and instrumental in this whole process and [my costar] Trevante [Rhodes] was just a pleasure to work with. I was very blessed,” she added.