It’s all great and good that Beyonce has passionate fans, but it’s not so great when their passion becomes bullying and drives an innocent women off of Instagram. That’s the message Beyonce’s publicist has for the Beyhive after an NBA Finals Game 3 moment turned ugly.
It was an innocent exchange that went down on the sidelines where Jay-Z and Beyonce were seated next to Golden State Warriors owner Joseph Lacob and his wife Nicole Curran. Footage caught Curran speaking with Jay-Z, leaning forward to speak past Beyonce, who was seated between them.
Unfortunately, Beyonce gave an expression during this exchange and that was enough for the Beyhive to attack. They blew up social media at this perceived slight and disrespect of their queen.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé are courtside for Game 3 😎 pic.twitter.com/6mmJuN8Odn
— ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2019
But it wasn’t enough that they were offended on behalf of Beyonce, assuming from her expression that she was disgusted by the whole thing. They had to take it to the next level and start harassing Curran online to the point that she had to deactivate her Instagram. They were filling it with bee emojis, among other nastier comments.
That prompted an immediate response from Beyonce’s publicist Yvette Noel-Schure, who took to Instagram both to commemorate the anniversary of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s tour and chastise Beyonce’s fans. “I know your love runs deep but that love has to be given to every human,” she wrote. “It will bring no joy to the person you love so much if you spew hate in her name.”
Curran gave her side of the story to ESPN reporter Ramona Shelburne, who shared it via Twitter. According to Shelburne, Curran spent the night of the game in tears and received “death threats” throughout the night, which is why she ultimately disabled her account.
Curran says Jay Z asked for a vodka soda. She asked if he wanted lime with that. But it was loud in Oracle and she couldn’t hear, so she leaned over. That’s where the photos of Beyoncé looking askance at her come from.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 6, 2019
Beyonce has not addressed the controversy directly. But she did share a cropped version of the footage to her own Instagram, removing Curran. But that could easily be because she wanted to focus on her and Jay-Z.
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