Kelly Rowland gets emotional as she addresses Cannes Film Festival security guard argument: ‘I stood my ground’

Kelly Rowland isn’t making any apologies for her recent outburst.

After the singer, 43, was seen publicly scolding a female staffer on the Cannes red carpet on Tuesday, she got emotional as she opened up about the recent incident, saying she’s happy she “stood [her] ground.”

“That woman knows what happened. I know what happened,” she told AP News while attending the annual amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Cannes Gala on Thursday. “I have a boundary and I stand by those boundaries.”

“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,” Rowland continued.

“I stood my ground and she felt like she had to stand hers. But I stood my ground.”

Earlier this week, Rowland was spotted having a heated altercation with one of the security guards while attending the 2024 Cannes Film Festival for the “Marcello Mio” premiere.

When the guard attempted to guide the singer up the red carpeted stairs, Rowland turned to face the staffer, raised her left pointer finger in the guard’s face and seemingly reprimanded her.

Shortly after the incident, an expert lip reader explained to Page Six what the “Motivation” singer said to the guard in the now-viral video.

“Don’t talk to me like that. Don’t talk to me like that,” she repeated. “You’re not my mother. I told you not to talk to me like that.”

It remains unclear what the guard initially said to Rowland to spark her response, but according to an insider, the singer was reportedly pushed to her wits end because the staffers who were helping stars move along the crowded carpet were being “aggressive.”

“By the time [Rowland] 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 told the Daily Mail.

Rowland returned to the film festival on Wednesday looking apprehensive as she walked the red carpet for the premiere of “The Count of Monte Cristo.”

She wore an elegant pearl colored one shoulder gown and silver diamond necklace for the second premiere.