On Wednesday, Music’s royal couple, Beyonce and Jay-Z, sat court side at the Oracle for Game 3 of the NBA Finals. However, in acknowledging their appearance, the camera also caught an awkward interaction between Beyonce and Nicole Curran, the wife of Warriors owner Joe Lacob.
In the incident, which sparked a wave of criticisms, Curran is seen leaning over the Queen to converse with her husband, Jay. Although the interaction seemed innocent, after a few moments, Bey appeared to be extremely uncomfortable. (Which is normal, when sitting in between a conversation.)
Despite the lack of context, the Beyhive wasted no time attacking Curran for the awkward encounter, while others took to Twitter to express their thoughts.
“I would leave the earth if Beyonce looked this ready to smack me,” Kara R Brown wrote, while another said, “Imagine, speaking and leaning over BEYONCE!”
But as it turns out, according to Curran herself, the incident is not what it seems. In fact, the misunderstanding and subsequent backlash even left the woman in tears, as she revealed she had been getting death threats on social media all night.
“Curran said she had no idea anything was even amiss until she got home and started seeing texts from friends and checked her social media,” Ramona Shelburne wrote of her conversation with Curran. “She invited Jay Z and Beyonce to the game 3-4 times before. Last night she says she asked if they wanted drinks. Beyonce asked for water.”
“Curran says JayZ asked for a vodka soda. She asked if he wanted lime with that,” Shelburne continued. “But it was loud in Oracle and she couldn’t hear, so she leaned over. That’s where the photos of Beyonce looking askance at her came from.”
“Curran says she then went to go get them those drinks. ‘There was no hostility. I was trying to be a good hostess,’ she said. ‘I’ve never experienced cyberbullying like this. I can’t believe our players go through this. That kids go through this.”
