Reports say that photographers were banned from taking photos of Beyonce during her performance at Kobe Bryant's memorial at the Staples Center yesterday (February 24th). According to Page Six, editors at the AP and Getty Images told the Post that organizers the live-streamed Staples Center event prohibited them from taking photos of the singer or Bryant's children.
One insider at the event said, “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 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 artists at the memorial asked for this, not Christina Aguilera, not Alicia Keys.”