Chloe Flower Says She Cried After Jerrod Carmichael 'Had My Back' amid Golden Globes Drama

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Chloe Flower, the pianist who went viral during Tuesday night's Golden Globe ceremony, is clearing the air: she was not playing over any acceptance speeches.

During the ceremony, a piano recording began to play to warn winners that their time was up for their acceptance speeches. Since Flower was sitting at the piano as the music went off, viewers and attendees believed the music was coming from her — and stars like Michelle Yeoh expressed their concerns.

Yeoh accepted the award for best performance by an actress in a musical or comedy motion picture for Everything Everywhere All at Once and paused her speech to speak her mind when the music started playing.

"Shut up, please. I can beat you up and that's serious," she said, leading viewers to believe her comments were directed at Flower.

The next day, PEOPLE caught up with the 37-year-old pianist as she reflected on the whirlwind night.

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"I was hired to play piano when we come back from commercial break and reenter the program. It's called a rejoin. That was the only time I was ever supposed to play, and that's the only time I played," she says. "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."

She then reflected on how she felt when she learned people thought it was her playing the music.

"I was kind of sad. I mean, you saw it. They cut to me. I'm not an actress," she said. "I was sad that everyone thought that I would be that disrespectful. I would never do that as a live musician."

To top it off, social media was buzzing over it — and that didn't make it any easier for Flower. "I found out that I was trending pretty early on in the show. I had two more outfit changes to go, so I was like, 'Oh, my God, how am I going to get through this?' But I'm a professional, so I had to just continue as if nothing was wrong."

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Chloe Flower

Luckily the host of the evening, Jerrod Carmichael, stood up for Flower.

"He came backstage and told me he was going to take care of it. 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.' "

She continues, "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. I felt protected so I was able to complete the show."

As for Yeoh, Flower was able to set the record straight with the actress almost immediately afterward — and she says there's no "animosity."

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"I wish the cameras were on when I saw her afterward. She walked past the piano, and I stopped her and I was like, 'I would never play during your speech. I respect you, and I am a huge fan,' and she held my hand. She was so lovely, and she was so nice."

She adds of Yeoh, 60: "Asians, we have to stick together. We have to empower each other. I don't think in any way that she meant or directed that statement at me. There was no animosity there at all."

Flower also added that she's Yeoh's "biggest fan" and considers her a "huge inspiration" for her "talent," "beauty," "elegance" and "she can kick someone's ass."

"My biggest fear was I would not want Michelle Yeoh as the human to think that I would disrespect her in that way," she says. "I felt like I was Constance Wu in Crazy Rich Asians like, 'Oh, my God, I don't want her to think that I'm this person that I'm not.'"

She adds, "I was like, 'I need her to know that I would never do that because I love her.' I almost idolize her in a way. Even though she's not a musician, like I said, she has been such a huge inspiration as an Asian. As a young Asian girl, I watched her movies. She was so amazing.'

At the end of the day, Flower — who's releasing her newest single "Golden Hour" on Friday — hopes that despite the drama, she inspired children to play the piano. "Music education is always my message."