Kelly Rowland addresses Jay Z’s viral reaction to seeing her at The Harder They Fall premiere

The 99 Problems rapper was overjoyed to see his ‘sister’ (Picture: @netflix, Twitter)

Jay Z went viral thanks to a clip of his overly sweet and rather human reaction to seeing Kelly Rowland on the red carpet, but she doesn’t understand the big deal about it. 

A guest managed to capture the moment Jay Z, 51, spotted the Destiny’s Child singer – AKA his wife Beyonce’s best friend – at the last minute just before the red carpet closed at The Harder They Fall premiere in Los Angeles last Wednesday.

The Big Pimpin rapper had just started walking into the screening flanked by several burly bodyguards when he suddenly turned around and spotted a familiar face. His shocked and then pleasantly surprised expression has become the stuff of memes, with him practically running over to Kelly and giving her a warm hug. 

‘Aw, you look so beautiful, I didn’t even recognise you,’ is what it sounds like Jay Z said on the bustling red carpet. 

Speculation has been rife about why the rapper reacted the way he did, with many assuming the longtime pals simply hadn’t seen each other for a while, others convinced he didn’t recognise Kelly with her glamorous old Hollywood look, and the rest guessing that maybe Kelly said she was unable to attend but decided to surprise him. 

Well, the Motivation singer addressed the buzz during an Instagram live over the weekend and stated (while casually applying her make-up): ‘Some things I’ll never understand. I see my big bro all the time but I guess you guys don’t see what we see.’ 

Jay Z looks like a kid in a candy shop (Picture: @netflix, Twitter)

He spots a familiar face (Picture: @netflix, Twitter)

And can’t believe his eyes (Picture: @netflix, Twitter)

He realises it’s his wife’s lifelong bestie (Picture: @netflix, Twitter)

At this point he’s practically running over (Picture: @netflix, Twitter)

And lastly, goes in for the hug (Picture: @netflix, Twitter)

Sadly not all of us have the pleasure of hanging with music royalty.

Kelly, 40, went on to heap praise on The Harder They Fall, which is co-produced by Jay Z and stars Idris Elba and Regina King playing real life figures in a fictionalised story. The majority Black western follows outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), who reassembles his former gang to seek revenge against the man who murdered his parents. 

Sharing her review of the anticipated Netflix blockbuster, Kelly said: ‘I am not of course paid to say anything about the movie but, this movie is so good, The Harder They Fall, and what’s so dope is it’s directed, written, created by a brilliant Black man and produced by a brilliant Black man, and it’s so exciting. 

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‘Everything from the moment it starts, the beauty of the screen, the cinematography, the styling, the acting, the effects, it’s just effing killer. You’re gonna love it.’ 

In addition to the Los Angeles premiere, Jay Z jetted over to London with wife Beyonce for the star-studded European event.

The Harder They Fall hits Netflix on November 3.

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