Yahoo Lifestyle Why We're All Watching The Solange / Jay Z Altercation
Beyonce and Jay Z at the MET Gala.
When we got wind of an altercation between Jay Z and Solange Knowles, we were a little perturbed. "Jay Z beaten up by Solange Knowles" screamed the headlines.
Surely it couldn't be true.
But surveillance video obtained from celebrity site TMZ shows Solange wildly flailing and kicking at Jay Z as soon as they enter a lift after the MET Gala.
At first, he fends her off, but she quickly gets out of control and needs restraining by a bodyguard. Her sister Beyonce seemingly stands coolly by, stepping in only at the last second to defend her husband.
There's no audio on the video, so it's difficult to tell exactly what's going on and why.
"All three walked out of the building together - Solange looks pissed - but while Bey and Solange get in one car...security walks Jay to a different one," reported TMZ.
Almost instantly, #jayz100thproblem started trending on Twitter, while memes ran rampant this morning making fun of the fact that a man had been kicked and beaten by a woman.
Had the roles been reversed, we're quite sure the reaction to the situation would have been entirely different.
Violence against men by women is rarely reported. It's likely that had there been no cameras in the elevator, we would never have known that Solange had attacked Jay Z so ferociously – or at all.
So why are we all so obsessed with watching a video of three people who we know only by face, and one so violent at that?
"There is a reason we so greedily gorge on private moments of famous people," commented the Washington Post. "We think we want to know everything about their lives, particularly those of people we admire.
"If we paused to consider the experience itself though, we might acknowledge the misery of it. Watching a woman so thoroughly lose it is degrading."
Moreover, this display of violence is probably one we shouldn't be making memes about.
