Kelly Rowland, who scolded a female security guard at Cannes and later accused her of racism, got a reply back by guard’s colleague.
In response to Kelly's allegations of racism against the usher, her colleague has come forward to defend her actions.
According to the Daily Mail, the colleague emphasized that the guard was simply carrying out her duties under pressure to maintain order on the red carpet.
The festival staff veteran explained, “She was an usher working under a lot of pressure to keep people on the carpet moving, so as to stop crowds building up. There was no pushing or shoving, or scolding. Security and safety are the priorities, along with keeping to strict timetables set according to contracts – even the celebrities have to stick to the rule.”
“Lots of ushers are involved, and they always act professionally and with politeness,” he added.
The source went on to clarify, “In this case, the usher was certainly only doing her job – she didn’t do anything wrong.”
"Suggestions of racism are just ridiculous – visitors, and indeed staff at Cannes come from all kinds of backgrounds, and none are discriminated against,” the source concluded.
The controversy started when videos went viral from the Cannes premiere of Marcello Mio on Tuesday.
In videos, Kelly could be seen angrily scolding a female security guard with pointing her index finger toward her as she was escorting the singer towards the venue.
Later on, Kelly explained the reason of her anger and referred the usher’s action as racism.
In her statement, Kelly claimed, “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."
For the unversed, Kelly Rowland’s French-Italian film Marcello Mio was premiered at Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday May 21, 2024.
