Kelly Rowland Had Something To Say About Jay-Z's Controversial 2024 Grammys Speech

Don't play with Kelly.

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Kelly Rowland doesn't play around when it comes to Jay-Z or Beyoncé.

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On Feb. 4, at the 2024 Grammy Awards, Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter), 54, became the second Dr. Dre Global Impact Award honorary. In his acceptance speech, he pulled no punches and shaded the Recording Academy for Beyoncé's Album of the Year award snubs.

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“I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work,” Jay said. “Think about that — the most Grammys. Never won Album of the Year. That doesn’t work.”

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While he never said Beyoncé's name, he was clearly talking about his wife, who currently holds the record for the most decorated artist with 32 Grammy wins. She was nominated for Album of the Year four times and never won.

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On Feb. 6 at the Bob Marley: One Love premiere, Entertainment Tonight spoke with Kelly, 42, to get her two cents on the matter, and she made nothing but great points.

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“Shawn Carter is one of the greatest men I know and his words ring so loud to me,” Kelly responded. “I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

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She continued, “I’m just really happy for a lot of things that he said. I think that he made a lot of artists feel very seen and very heard in those minutes that he took on stage — whether you carried that for years, a year, or felt some sort of way about that. It's no disrespect, as he said, it's just thinking of new ways."

Kelly Rowland is standing by Jay Z and his GRAMMY speech. #OneLoveMovie pic.twitter.com/K0Ihoc1UKU

— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) February 7, 2024

Entertainment Tonight/ Twitter: @etnow

Kelly agreed that it's wild that her BFF Beyoncé, 42, still hasn't won Album of the Year at the Grammys despite being nominated four times and the most-awarded artist ever.

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“I feel like she is an icon… and that’s for a reason — it’s because she starts trends. She is innovative, her thoughts are big and bright and she just jumps for them and does it,” Kelly said. “I think that her albums are a reflection of that, and it should be really celebrated in that way.”

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“I’m not saying that because it’s my sister, I’m saying it because it’s the truth,” Kelly added. “I’ve seen the blood, sweat, and tears that she puts into these projects, and her thoughts and her heart and her passion and her soul.”

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Kelly and Beyoncé have known each other for over three decades. They lived together since they were children, performed together in multiple girl groups, including Destiny's Child, and now remain closely involved in each other's growing family life.

Kelly shares two sons, Titan, 9, and Noah, 2, with husband Tim Weatherspoon, and Beyoncé shares three kids, Blue Ivy, 11, and 6-year-old twins, Rumi and Sir, with Jay-Z.

So there you have it! Kelly is Team Jay-Z and Beyoncé —obviously. Now, I dare somebody to ask Solange what she thinks.

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