The Beyhive Had a Lot of Feelings About Omari Hardwick Kissing Beyonce

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published 2 April 2019

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, first of her name and most talented of her time, is not someone to be played with, period. She's the celebrity of celebrities, beloved by even the most elite in Hollywood. Messing with her in any way means incurring the wrath of the BeyHive, and you really don't want that problem. Just ask Omari Hardwick.

In a now-notorious clip, Hardwick, known for his role as James "Ghost" Fitzpatrick on the STARZ series Power, can be seen approaching Beyoncé at the 2019 NAACP Image Awards. He looks happy to see her, and understandably so—it's Beyoncé!

What's harder to understand are the two awkward kisses he greets her with—one landing painfully close to her mouth. As women, we easily recognize Beyoncé's body language as she's locked in the embrace; many of us have experienced that exact feeling of discomfort at being interacted with in an inappropriate manner.

A respectable handshake would have worked just fine from Omari Hardwick. Women don’t need to be grabbed, hugged and kissed unless its your wife/girlfriend.Beyonce should have slapped him !https://t.co/MqflX03BYUMarch 31, 2019

Twitter reactions to the cringeworthy moment ranged from outrage to pensive sadness:

So this Omari/Beyoncé thing - as a general rule when greeting someone, I keep it at a handshake. Kisses and hugs have to be consensual with BOTH parties.March 31, 2019

I know what Omari Hardwick did to Beyonce with the kisses may seem trivial to some of you, but that's what literally happens when we greet some of your dads, brothers, boyfriends, colleagues and bosses. There are boundaries and he encroached... it's disconcertingMarch 31, 2019

We don't know the extent of the two stars' relationship (they could actually know each other really well), but one Twitter user paints a bigger picture of why the interaction was particularly problematic:

Listen. It's hard enough to get Beyoncé to even attend these events as it is—she has three whole kids now!—so we really would love for her to have a good time when she does step out in to the public eye. She may be one of the most famous celebrities in the world, but just like us, Beyoncé is a person who has the right to her personal space.

General rule of thumb: Keep your hands (and your mouth) to yourself...especially when it comes to Beyoncé. Unless you want the Hive busting down your door.

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Lagos-born and Houston-raised, Ineye Komonibo is a writer and editor with a love for all things culture. With an academic background in public relations and media theory, Ineye’s focus has always been on using her writing ability to foster discourse about the deep cyclical relationship between society and the media we engage with, ever-curious about who we are and what we do because of what we consume. Most recently, she put her cultural savvy to work as a culture critic for R29 Unbothered, covering everything from politics to social media thirst to the reverberations of colorism across the African diaspora.

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