Nicole Curran, the woman who was seen leaning over Beyoncé to talk to Jay-Z at an NBA game, has left Instagram as a result of the blowback, and says that she’s been receiving hate and death threats from the singer’s fans.
A video of the incident went viral soon after it occurred, showing Bey’s annoyed expression as the conversation took place across her. Bey herself fanned the flames by posting a picture to Instagram with her rival pointedly cropped out.
Speaking with ESPN, Nicole Curran said that from her point of view, there was “no hostility” during the exchange, and that she was merely taking Jay’s drink order to be a “good hostess”. Writer Ramona Shelburne, who conducted the interview, said on Twitter:
“Just spoke to Nicole Curran, the wife of Warriors owner Joe Lacob, about the “incident” with Beyoncé last night. She was in tears. Said she had been getting death threats on social media all night this morning she disabled her IG account just to make it stop.”
Curran said that, by the time she got home, her Instagram was flooded with angry comments and bee emojis. “I’ve never experienced cyberbullying like this,” she said. “I can’t believe our players go through this. That kids go through this.”
Just spoke to Nicole Curran, the wife of Warriors owner Joe Lacob, about the “incident “ with Beyoncé last night. She was in tears. Said she had been getting death threats on social media all night this morning she disabled her IG account just to make it stop.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 6, 2019
The abuse got so bad that Bey’s manager Yvette Noel-Schure took to Instagram to try and cool it down, asking fans not to “spew hate” in her name. Bey has not yet commented, but her post remains on Instagram.
