Jay Z was viciously assaulted by sister-in-law Solange Knowles in a bizarre kicking and screaming attack in a Manhattan hotel elevator.
Surveillance video obtained by TMZ shows the rap mogul — still in his white tuxedo jacket and wife Beyoncé and her sister in fancy gowns after the Met Gala — being punched and kicked in the groin by a flailing Solange in an elevator at the Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District.
The trio had just entered the elevator after a post-gala party in the Boom Boom Room at the hotel May 5 when Solange, 27, immediately launched into Jay, yelling at him and wildly swatting and kicking him.
Sources told Page Six that Solange had become drunk and “belligerent” at the after-party and was “like a pressure cooker waiting to explode.”
“Solange had too much to drink and was out of it by the time the performances started after the dinner at the Met Ball — she was dancing like a crazy person,” a source said.
Another source said Solange got into an argument with a pal, designer Rachel Roy, after arriving at the Standard and that Beyoncé came to her defense when another guest tried to intervene.
When the female guest asked Solange, “ ‘What is your problem?’ Beyoncé defended her sister and told the guest, ‘You don’t get to speak to my sister that way,’ ” the source said.
By the time Solange got into the elevator to leave with her sister and Jay Z, “she flipped out over something Jay had said, that she took the wrong way,” a source told Us Weekly. “Not sure what it was, but she greatly overreacted.”
A tall, beefy bodyguard, the only other person in the small elevator, grabbed the out-of-control Solange in a bear hug, but she continued yelling and swinging at the “Magna Carta … Holy Grail” star — and nailed him in the crotch with her foot.
Jay is seen trying to deflect the infuriated woman — dressed in high heels and a peach designer silk dress — by grabbing her foot and holding it. He never attempts to hit her back.
Meanwhile, Beyoncé can be seen strangely just standing by, her back against the elevator wall, with her husband on her left and her enraged sister to her right, screaming and trying to hit and kick her hubby.
Bey even calmly moves her sequined dress’ train to keep it from getting trampled by her thrashing sister.
When the female guest asked Solange, ‘What is your problem?’ Beyoncé defended her sister and told the guest, ‘You don’t get to speak to my sister that way.’
At one point, the “Single Ladies” singer appears to be trying to talk her sister into calming down and says something to her husband but doesn’t get physically involved.
Apparently afraid that the embarrassing fracas will spill out into the hotel’s lobby when the doors open, the bodyguard hits the elevator’s emergency stop button around the 12th floor while Solange continues her rampage.
He eventually lets go of a seemingly calmed-down Solange — but then remains standing firmly between her and Jay Z while she yells, wags her finger at him and flings her clutch at him.
Jay Z calmly picks up the small purse and tries to hand it back to his sister-in-law, but his wife quickly intervenes and grabs it to hold instead.
The bodyguard pushes buttons to allow the elevator to move again. But as its doors open and shut, Solange is still wigging out, and no one leaves the car.
Solange takes a few parting shots at her brother-in-law as Beyoncé and the bodyguard finally leave the elevator. The bodyguard then rushes back and grabs Solange to keep her off Jay Z. Beyoncé then stays between the feuding pair until they all exit the car.
Later video footage shows the group exiting the hotel, with an angry-looking Solange coming out first, followed by the bodyguard.
She gets into a waiting black car, and the door is still open as if awaiting more passengers.
A grim-faced Jay Z stops at the car door and whispers to his bodyguard. The guard then ushers him to a separate waiting vehicle.
His wife, smiling bravely for the cameras, gets into the car with her sister.
The Standard released a statement Monday afternoon blasting whoever released the video.
“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,” it said.
“We are investigating with the utmost urgency the circumstances surrounding the situation and, as is our customary practice, will discipline and prosecute the individuals involved to our fullest capacity.”
Reps for Jay and Beyoncé didn’t immediately comment, but on May 7, Beyoncé shared this prayer on Instagram: “Lord, I lift up every one of my relationships to You and ask You to bless them. I pray that each one would be glorifying to You.”
By the weekend, things had apparently simmered down. Jay Z and Beyoncé took Solange’s son, Julez, 9, with them on Saturday to a Nets game.
But her sister, in a Mother’s Day tweet, said, “This might have been top 10 days every in life.”
On Monday night, Jay and Bey showed up at the Brooklyn Nets NBA playoff game against the Miami Heat at Barclays Center, and were seen courtside patting each other’s knees. They strode past reporters after the Nets’ loss without answering questions.
Beyoncé and her songwriter-singer-actress sister have a famously close relationship.
Before Beyoncé came to her sister’s defense at the Standard, they’d been hanging out that night, enjoying themselves with pals such as model Naomi Campbell, designer Riccardo Tisci and singer Erykah Badu.
Solange — who is divorced and recently moved from Brooklyn to New Orleans with her son — has a history of erratic behavior. She once overdosed on NyQuil, and last summer abruptly canceled her European tour dates for August 2013, citing “mental/physical health.”
She also makes no secret of her marijuana use, releasing a 2008 ode to weed called “Champagne Chronic Nightcap.”
Additional reporting by Sophia Rosenbaum and Larry Celona