Pianist Chloe Flower faced backlash when the Golden Globes viewing audience thought she was responsible for the music that urged winners to wrap up their speeches. The 37-year-old musician soon found herself going viral for all the wrong reasons.
Actress Michelle Yeoh told the piano player whose music interrupted her speech to shut up, saying jokingly she could 'beat you up.'
However, Flower was not the person playing the wrap-up music. She explained she was playing at the awards for another purpose.
"I was hired to play piano when we come back from commercial break and re-enter the program. It's called a rejoin," she told People the next day.
"That was the only time I was ever supposed to play, and that's the only time I played. I think that all of the winners and celebrities who were being cut off didn't ... all of a sudden, I became the face of the playoff music."
Flower credited Golden Globes host Jerrod Carmichael for trying to set the record straight, saying she cried because he was so supportive as hostile tweets were directed her way during the show.
"He came backstage and told me he was going to take care of it," Flower said. "He's like, 'I'm going to say something. I'm going to set it straight because this isn't fair.' He's like, 'We're so lucky to have you, and thank you for being here.'
"That was what made me cry, actually. It wasn't what was coming at me on social media or whatever the actors felt or didn't feel. It was really the fact that everybody there had my back and they were there to protect me."
On her Instagram account, Flower posted a thank you to Carmichael while also calling attention to the horrors of sex trafficking.
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The classical pianist and composer is also an influencer who has amassed a social media following for her passionate piano playing in designer outfits from the 63rd floor of her New York City apartment. She plays on Liberace's mirrored piano, which was loaned to her from his estate.
Flower also made sure to approach Yeoh and make sure she knew that she wasn't responsible for the wrap-up music that hastened her speech.
"It's really important for Asian women -- especially Asian women today, especially in Hollywood - [to unite]. I'm up and coming. She's hugely established. I'm a huge fan of Michelle Yeoh," she told The Hollywood Reporter.
"I didn't know [Michelle] was coming and when I saw that she was there, I was at the piano in real-time. I was like, 'Oh my God, she's here.' When that happened, I was so rattled because I was like, 'Oh my God, I love her. I don't want her to think that I'm performing during her speech.' I would never do that."
Yeoh was the winner of the Best Actress Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Pictur- Musical or Comedy for Everything, Everywhere All at Once.