We Speak Entertainment

Woman Who Photobombed Beyoncé During Grammy Weekend Speaks: ‘I Felt Like I Was Hugged by an Angel’

Published

9 years ago

February 1, 2018

umeektv

Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

Susan Monaghan, the woman behind the now infamous photo of a really surprised fan reacting to seeing Beyoncé and JAY-Z, has recounted her unlikely story in an interview with the Boston Globe.

The New Jersey resident was in Manhattan on Saturday night (Jan. 27) with family for her granddaughter’s gymnastics competition and to celebrate her daughter’s birthday when she said she headed up to her room alone as the rest of her family stayed behind.

Monaghan detailed that as she exited the elevator she saw photographers and security guards rushing by and she tried to step out of the way but found herself in a close encounter with a “handsome” man that she could not place at first.

“I’m thinking in my mind, ‘Who is this?’ And I looked at him and he looked tall, and thin, and had curly hair, and was really good-looking,” she said.

Monaghan did not realize that she happened to be staying at the same hotel where Clive Davis holds his iconic pre-Grammys party and then she saw Beyoncé and reacted as any mere normal person would when being blessed to come in such close contact with Queen Bey herself.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my God!’” Monaghan shared, recalling the moment when she realized how close she was to music’s biggest couple. “I looked at her and all I could think was, ‘No one is going to believe me. No one is going to believe me.’”

She even began shouting it out loud and that’s when the “Formation” singer flashed her a smile that Monaghan read as, “Don’t worry, it’s going to be OK.”

When asked why she believes Beyoncé included the picture of her among the numerous shots posted to Instagram, Monaghan shared “I think she posted it for me. So people would believe me.”

To see the hilarious shot — which was spoofed and talked about on late night shows all week — skip to the fourth picture in the photo series below.

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We Speak Entertainment

OFFICIAL TRAILER RELEASED FOR “CALL ME MICKY,” EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY DOMINIQUE JACKSON

Published

3 weeks ago

August 31, 2026

Jimmy Star

**New 22-minute documentary short follows Micky Angelo Petrillo after transitioning at 59, with the acclaimed POSE star helping bring his story to the screen**

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — NEW YORK: The official trailer for CALL ME MICKY, a new documentary short Executive Produced by acclaimed POSE star Dominique Jackson and directed by Andrew Rasmussen, has been released on YouTube ahead of the film’s upcoming festival run.

The 22-minute documentary follows Micky Angelo Petrillo, a larger-than-life New Jersey native who transitioned at 59 and is now discovering what comes next.

Rather than presenting transition as the conclusion of Petrillo’s story, CALL ME MICKY focuses on the life unfolding afterward — through Pride celebrations, open mics, friendships, storytelling and Petrillo’s increasingly public embrace of the man he fought decades to become.

Jackson also appears in the film, joining Petrillo for an intimate on-camera conversation about identity, visibility and what it means to finally live openly as yourself.

Internationally recognized for her commanding portrayal of Elektra on FX’s groundbreaking series POSE, Jackson is an actress, model, activist and producer who also served as an Executive Producer of the acclaimed documentary I’M YOUR VENUS, which premiered at the Tribeca Festival.

Petrillo is the author of the memoir Walking the Earth: First as a Woman, Then a Man.

While CALL ME MICKY captures one chapter of Petrillo’s much larger story, the film offers an intimate portrait of a man discovering that becoming yourself is not the ending — it may only be the beginning.