Answered at Quora in response to: Why did Solange Knowles attack Jay-Z?
“YOU are the reason we had to sign that thing in the first place!” * Oh the irony.
BOOMBOOM ROOM | PX This.
Yeah so, I asked around last night because along with what seems like the rest of the wooorld, I too was dying to know what went down in that elevator.
Firstly, you should know that the staffers of The Standard Highline are in serious trouble. Jay Z is pissed, and rightfully so. If the person who stole that footage (it was filmed with a smartphone from off the security monitor; it is not the digital footage from the elevator camera itself) isn’t uncovered, everybody with even the most remote access to that surveillance room is in danger of losing their jobs. And even if the perpetrator is caught, the hotel still faces some very dire consequences from an ultra-famous and powerful celebrity as a result of that video having been misappropriated.
Secondly, you should know that even though what follows comes either directly or indirectly from the people who were there that night at the 18th floor lounge (aka the “Boom Boom”), it is all still ENTIRELY SPECULATIVE. Nobody in that room was close enough to Jay Z, Beyonce, and Solange to hear what was said, and there is no audio recording inside the lounge nor the elevator.
Apparently, Solange arrived that night in good spirits (she has visited Boom Boom several times prior, is well-liked by the personnel, and even hosted a party of her own last year at adjacent 18th floor nightclub Le Bain). She seemed to be having a fine time and was indeed drinking. She “may have been tipsy” but “far from drunk,” and certainly “not creating a scene or anything like that.”
Supposedly it was Jay Z who decided that they’d all had enough, and it was he who prompted their party to leave. That was the last that anybody knows, so it stands to reason that whatever triggered Solange’s ire happened sometime around that point or between the short walk from the lounge to the elevator itself, which is located outside Boom Boom’s and Le Bain’s shared entry foyer in a small hallway of its own.
So obviously, this is where all the rampant RUMORS come into play— sadly, seemingly bolstered by the sheer fury of Solange’s “attack.”
It has long been speculated by people who may or may not know what the hell they are talking about, that Jay Z and Beyonce have, or may have once had, an “open” relationship. It probably didn’t help quell these rumors that Jay Z was often seen out and about without his wife, in elite exclusive venues (like the Boom Boom) where the hoi polloi and the paparazzi conveniently aren’t generally welcomed. I myself spotted Jay Z twice in two such places; once at a small dinner for six, the other time at a small dinner with three other guests, one of whom was Will Smith. Both times with: not Beyonce, but Rihanna.
On the other hand, that doesn’t necessarily mean shit, because I have also seen with my very own eyes Jay Z surprise his wife by appearing at a small private concert where she was performing, and frankly I must say that really looked like true love to me.
Beyoncé @ Cipriani 55 Wall
But whatever, the first RUMOR is that Solange may have been upset by some kind of revelation that Jay Z was not staying true to some kind of supposed promise to subsequently stay faithful to his family following the birth of his daughter. And unfortunately, when you see the footage, his behavior, Beyonce’s demeanor, and the video/photographs of them leaving The Standard afterward, it kinda fits.
The OTHER RUMOR is that Solange may have been upset by something possibly having to do with Jay Z and maybe the rap career of her estranged “baby daddy” Daniel Smith aka Yung Sosa. Which also could plausibly fall well in line with Solange’s rage, but doesn’t quite jibe so well with its timing.
And of course, there is always the seemingly unlikely possibility that Solange simply “overreacted” to something Jay said. However, at the end of the video, when Jay and Solange are left in the elevator alone at the very last second, Jay touches his index finger to his temple while addressing Solange, which would seem to indicate that he is calling her a crazy bitch, sparking yet another final violent lunge from his sister-in-law. Gotta admit, with a few drinks in me and one too many times being wrongfully and dismissively called “crazy,” I might try to rip a mutherfukker’s head off too.
I know it’s not much, but I am willing to bet it will be a long while (if ever) before any substantial information comes to light, because Jay Z now seems to be in Damage Control Warp Speed mode.
* In case you are wondering who the hell I think I am, I am the former “maitre d’ to the stars” who sparked a sudden city-wide stipulation of Non Disclosure Agreements amongst and within the most esteemed service/hospitality establishments in New York, upon my 2004 publication of “the bible of the industry.”
And you know what you are, dear reader? You’re a gossip whore.
Don’t front, DON’T FIGHT IT.
:)
** This Quora submission was re-published with permission by The Huffington Post. **
i just realized i said: “what went down in that elevator.”
damn, i’m witty.