beyhive

The Woman From the Viral Beyoncé Video Is Getting Death Threats

Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Last night, social media was aflame over a viral video of a woman who leaned over Beyoncé to speak to Jay-Z at an NBA Finals game, prompting an annoyed expression from Bey. Now, the woman from the clip says she’s faced so much harassment — including, apparently, death threats — that she’s had to disable her Instagram account.

On Thursday afternoon, Nicole Curran, the wife of Warriors owner Joe Lacob, told her side of the viral exchange to ESPN senior writer Ramona Shelburne: Though the video footage made the exchange look palpably uncomfortable between the two women, Curran claims that she simply leaned over Beyoncé to hear Jay-Z’s drink order so that she could get the two of them beverages. “There was no hostility,” Curran told ESPN, adding that she was simply “trying to be a good hostess.”

By the time Curran got home, according to her account, the Beyhive had already inundated her Instagram comments with angry comments and bee emojis. And, throughout the entire night, Curran claims that she received so many death threats, she was forced to disable her Instagram account this morning.

“I’ve never experienced cyberbullying like this,” Curran told Shelburne, reportedly through tears. “I can’t believe our players go through this. That kids go through this.”

While Beyoncé and Jay-Z have not personally responded to the viral video, Bey did put up an Instagram slideshow from the game that depict it as an overall enjoyable night. (Some have noted in the comments, however, that she did crop Curran out of one photo.) And, on Thursday evening, Bey’s publicist Instagrammed a photo of the couple, asking the Beyhive to not “spew hate.”

“I know your love runs deep but that love has to be given to every human,” Yvette Noel-Schure wrote in the caption. “It will bring no joy to the person you love so much if you spew hate in her name.”

This post has been updated.

The Woman From the Beyoncé Video Is Getting Death Threats