Elevators after the Met Gala: Never as private as you might think, even for a notoriously shielded A-list couple. TMZ posted a video today of what appears to be Solange Knowles (Beyonce’s sister and a music star in her own right) repeatedly hitting and kicking her brother-in-law, Jay Z, as the trio rides in an elevator at the Standard Hotel.
The clip, taken via a security camera, went viral almost immediately. It’s apparently from after a Met Gala party (you can see here that their outfits are the same) in New York City last Monday.
Here’s the sequence of events: Beyonce is already in the elevator when the video starts. Jay Z, Solange and a bodyguard get in. Solange gets up in Jay Z’s face, obviously very upset about something. Jay Z just stands there. Solange starts attacking him, quite aggressively and violently, with lots of swinging arms. Jay Z tries to shield himself. Beyonce stands in the corner. A bodyguard pulls Solange off Jay Z. She’s still talking to him and kicks her foot out, but the bodyguard stops her from getting too close. Beyonce is still standing in the corner, adjusting her dress.
The bodyguard is still restraining Solange as she’s talking — she suddenly kicks at Jay Z again, but he catches her foot in his hand this time. Beyonce nearly gets pulled along in this, but manages to stay upright and calmly starts fixing her dress again. Jay Z retreats to the corner while the bodyguard holds Solange back. At one point, as TMZ notes, the bodyguard appears to push the elevator buttons to keep the doors from opening, while still holding Solange.
TMZ later updated the footage with a longer clip (about three and a half minutes) of the entire elevator ride — finally, Beyonce does seem to start talking, as the bodyguard stands between the couple and Solange. All appears calm for a little while, as the bodyguard starts to press buttons to open the doors, and helps Jay Z down to pick up Solange and Beyonce’s purses. All of a sudden, Solange suddenly starts pushing Jay Z again and the bodyguard has to physically remove her. Then Beyonce (standing between the two) makes the mistake of walking out of the elevator with the bodyguard, and Solange lashes out again, taking a swing at Jay Z. The bodyguard and Beyonce rush back in, separate the two and then finally (finally) the longest elevator ride in history ends.
The footage is very dramatic — and nope, no word on what prompted the fight. And yes, the memes have already started.
(This post has been updated.)
