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What fight? Jay Z, Beyonce hit Nets game; Solange cleans house

Jay Z, second from left, and Beyonce attend a semifinals game between the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat in New York City on Monday, the same day that video footage of an elevator fight involving them and Solange Knowles leaked online.
Jay Z, second from left, and Beyonce attend a semifinals game between the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat in New York City on Monday, the same day that video footage of an elevator fight involving them and Solange Knowles leaked online.
(Elsa / Getty Images)
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As the masses fixated on footage of the elevator fight between Solange Knowles and her brother-in-law, Jay Z, the rapper and wife Beyonce went out in public at a Brooklyn Nets game Monday night as if nothing unusual were going on.

Of course, the Nets-Miami Heat game came a full week after the May 5 debacle that was captured on that surveillance video -- so it was only the leak of the footage that was news about the high-profile twosome, not the altercation itself.

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It turns out that Solange, 27, may have had more than one fight the night of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala in New York City: She allegedly yelled at designer Rachel Roy, or perhaps a group of people including Roy, at the Met Gala after-party that preceded the elevator incident.

Beyonce, 32, “got in the middle” of that blowup, a source told Us Weekly, though the subject of that disagreement was also unknown. Previously the sisters had been on the dance floor with supermodel Naomi Campbell -- who has a reputation for anger-management issues of her own -- while Jay Z, 44, hung by a fireplace in the background, according to an eyewitness.

Solange had accompanied Roy to the 2012 Met Gala, the magazine said; the singer and producer’s red-carpet partner this year was designer Philip Lim, whose creation she wore to the event.

After the elevator video went public, Solange purged her Instagram of nearly every photo featuring Beyonce, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday. Given the nasty comments that had been posted Monday on Beyonce’s Instagram photos featuring her sister, Solange may simply have been removing destinations for critics to congregate online.

Then again, there could be more to the sister purge, depending on the nature of the elevator argument, which remains unknown. The parties involved haven’t commented.

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A closed elevator doesn’t allow much room for those ubiquitous “unnamed sources” to get the scoop, but the Daily Mail did unearth one “family friend” who speculated that the spat had something to do with a long-running issue about Jay Z not helping Solange boost her music career. However, that, like any other speculative explanation, would have to fall into the “theory” column.

Solange has “flipped her lid like that before,” a source told Us Weekly.

The 45-second clip initially released by TMZ on Monday expanded to about 3 1/2 minutes when the website posted footage showing the rest of the elevator ride later in the afternoon.

Incidentally, while some outlets have speculated that the leaked video might have been downloaded from the hotel’s surveillance system, shaky camera work makes it pretty clear that what’s gone public is actually a tape of the footage playing on a monitor.

The additional footage appears to show Solange continuing to speak strongly to her brother-in-law while a man who’s functioning as a bodyguard stands facing her, with the couple on the other side of him. Jay Z and Beyonce are near the back wall of the elevator, facing forward, while Solange faces them.

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The doors open and close several times, but nobody boards the elevator or interacts with the group.

At one point late in the tape, Jay Z bends down to pick up Beyonce’s purse, which must have fallen to the floor during the altercation. As the bag makes its way into B’s hand, the bodyguard steps forward to pick up Solange’s clutch, which was also on the ground. She takes the opportunity to once again move toward Jay Z, then gets held back.

Finally, the bodyguard and Beyonce exit the elevator -- with Beyonce’s body language making it look like she can’t get out of that mirrored box fast enough. Jay Z allows the two to leave first, then appears to say one final thing to Solange, possibly getting her to pause by putting his hands on her left arm. She takes one more wild swing at him with her right hand, losing her bag once again.

The bodyguard and Beyonce come back into the elevator to settle things down, and finally the party of four exits.

Photos snapped by paparazzi as the group left the hotel show a stunned Jay Z, a ticked-off Solange and an inscrutable Beyonce. The women reportedly left in one car and the rapper in another.

Standard Hotels, which hosted the Met Gala’s unofficial after-party at the Boom Boom Room of its High Line hotel in New York’s Meatpacking District, released a statement to theGrio regarding the leak of the surveillance footage.

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“We are shocked and disappointed that there was a clear breach of our security system and the confidentiality that we count on providing our guests,” read the statement, which also noted that the hotel was conducting an investigation and intended to discipline and prosecute any individuals involved.

Also new from Beyonce and Jay Z: As part of their joint summer tour, they just announced a second concert date at the Rose Bowl in August. Tickets go on sale Friday, according to The Times’ Pop & Hiss music blog.

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