Beyonce bans photogs from taking performance pics at Kobe Bryant memorial: 'She is so controlling of her image'
Photographers were prevented from taking pictures of Beyonce when she was performing at Kobe Bryant's memorial service in Los Angeles on Monday, February 24. However, the singer later released her own self-approved pictures on her website.
Several photo agencies shared with The Post that the organizers of the live-streamed event at the Staples Center had prohibited them from clicking photographs of the Grammy-winning singer or any of Kobe Bryant's children. Beyonce had kicked off the memorial service by performing her hit songs 'XO' and 'Halo'.
According to a report by Page Six, one insider at the event shared, "It is so offensive to Kobe’s family and the fans."
"Beyonce is so controlling of her image — she usually only allows approved selected images of her to be released — so no photographers at the Kobe memorial were allowed to take her picture. Really, at a memorial? Not even the family of Michael Jackson did that," the insider shared.
The source continued, "A Staples Center staffer was dispatched to make sure not a single camera was focused on the stage. The photographers couldn't believe it. This doesn't help Beyonce's image at all, it hurts her. It makes her look like a diva."
"The memorial wasn’t about her. The only shots of Bey that did emerge were screen grabs from TV. None of the other artistes at the memorial asked for this, not Christina Aguilera, not Alicia Keys," the insider added.
It had also been reported that Beyonce's publicist had earlier targeted media outlets and had demanded "unflattering" pictures of the singer be removed from online platforms.
Post her Super Bowl halftime show in 2013, Beyonce's spokeswoman Yvette Noel-Schure had emailed Buzzfeed and asked them to remove pictures from a post titled 'The 33 Fiercest Moments from Beyonce's Halftime Show'.
The beloved basketball star and his teenage daughter died in a fatal helicopter crash on January 26. Kobe and his daughter are survived by his wife, Vanessa Bryant, and their three kids, 17-year-old Natalia, three-year-old Bianka and seven-month-old Capri.