A tense moment between One Battle After Another star Teyana Taylor and a security guard at the Oscars has gone viral after Taylor stood up for herself backstage.
Taylor could be seen reprimanding a security guard whom she chided for putting "hands on a female" as she tried to pass by.
Sources told TMZ that the altercation occurred when Taylor tried to take the Oscars stage to join her fellow castmembers for a photo following the film's Best Picture win.
Taylor could be heard telling the security guard:
"You're very rude."
She then explained to bystanders:
"He literally shoved me."
Bystanders who spoke to TMZ corroborated Taylor's version of events, saying the incident occurred just after the ceremony ended as she and Warner Bros. co-CEO Pamela Abdi tried to take the stage for the photo.
Witnesses told TMZ that the security guard blocked them with his body and then put his hands on her to push her away and block her from the stage.
Witnesses went on to say the incident escalated from there, with the security guard restraining others and even demanding Taylor apologize to him.
Taylor later spoke to TMZ herself to give her side of the altercation.
She told the site's cameraman she was not letting the guard ruin her night.
"It's all good. Everybody's having a good time, and security was just doing a lot. There's always that one. But everything's fine. I'm happy."
She went on to explain that the viral uproar about the clip is due to people jumping to conclusions.
"I think the first thing people do is definitely make assumptions, but at the end of the day, I just don't tolerate disrespect, especially when it's unwarranted and it's unprovoked, you know what I'm saying?"
Indeed, there have been several viral posts claiming Taylor "went off" or "blew up" at the security guard, subtly painting her as the aggressor by feeding into stereotypes about Black women.
Both her own account and those of witnesses, however, don't at all align with this viral take—and also miss the point entirely that the security guard seems to have become inappropriately physical.
On social media, many were angry both about the incident itself and the way it has been portrayed on social media.
The Academy has since issued a statement to Variety, apologizing to Taylor for the incident and ensuring that the security company's failures would be dealt with.
It read in part:
"We were extremely upset to learn about the experience endured by Teyana Taylor at the end of the Oscars ceremony last night."
"We have worked with Teyana over the last several months during awards season, and she has been nothing short of remarkable, supportive, kind, and all about community."
"Though the incident was with our outside security firm SIS, the experience of every single guest is our responsibility. We have made it clear to them that this behavior is not acceptable."
"We want to thank Teyana for showing remarkable grace, and we are taking the appropriate measures to ensure this does not happen again."
Taylor lost the Best Supporting Actress prize to Amy Madigan, who took the statuette home for her work in Weapons.
One Battle After Another itself, however, swept several categories including Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn and Best Picture, which was considered something of an upset.
But if Taylor was upset that she lost and took it out on the security guard, as some online have suggested, there was certainly no indication that was true during the ceremony.
Taylor leapt to her feet to give her colleague Madigan a standing ovation when her name was announced as the winner of their hotly contested category, like the class act she is.
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