There was a time when the Cannes Film Festival’s biggest concern was the films and how they would play out. However, over the years, the festival has become a hotbed of controversies. After the backlash Cannes faced last year over selecting Jeanne Du Barry to open the festival, the general delegate Thierry Fremaux and his team made conscious efforts to make the 2024 festival as controversy-free as possible. Ironically, the 77th Cannes Film Festival has shaped up to be the most dramatic yet. 

There are multiple videos currently circulating on social media, where the security members of the festival, specifically a female usher, were seen sharing rough exchanges with celebrities like Kelly Rowland, Massiel Taveras, and YoonA. It began with the Mea Culpa actress, Rowland, who was directed up the festival staircase by several guards in an allegedly aggressive manner. This led the actress to lash out at the staff member with an outstretched finger.

A similar incident happened with Massiel Taveras, who also had a heated exchange with the same usher. And Taveras did not just admonish the security person but pushed her as well. Soon after these two viral videos caught fans’ attention, another video of South Korean singer and actress, YoonA, being treated similarly blew up on the web.

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This led fans to notice a pattern and criticize the staff of the Cannes Film Festival for treating the celebrities inappropriately.

There is always a huge pressure on the security guards at the Cannes Film Festival to keep people on the carpet moving. This way they avoid crowds building up on the staircase. And colleagues of the now-infamous red carpet usher have defended her with the same argument. A festival staff veteran tried to convince that “there was no pushing or shoving, or scolding," while speaking to the Daily Mail. However, it was not convincing enough for fans to not criticize the event’s management. 

They also criticized the female usher who was involved in the uncomfortable exchanges with the celebrities. 

They accused the usher of robbing the stars of their moment on the red carpet, while stars like Selena Gomez stole all the attention.  

The pressure on the security staff to maintain the decorum of the event is understandable. However, the way the usher had kept her arm up, trying to corral the stars up the staircase, and blocking them from the spotlight, was something that did not sit right with the netizen, leading 2024 to become another controversial year for the Cannes Film Festival.

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What do you think about this controversy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!