‘Prankster’ storms stage at Katy Perry live performance in Sydney
SYDNEY — Pop star Katy Perry was shocked at her live performance in Sydney on Monday when an attendee briefly ran as much as her on stage and grabbed her earlier than being escorted away by safety.
Perry was halfway by way of her present on the the 21,000-seat Qudos Financial institution Area, the second of three sold-out dates within the Australian metropolis on her “Lifetimes Tour.” Video footage posted by a concertgoer and verified by NBC Information confirmed a person run down the round stage, throw an arm round Perry’s shoulder and begin bouncing and dancing wildly.
Perry, who appeared shocked, rapidly moved away as she continued singing her 2008 hit “Scorching N Chilly.”
“There’s by no means going to be one other present like this, so simply get pleasure from it, Sydney,” she mentioned, because the fan appeared to battle with safety guards.
“What the hell is occurring?” Perry mentioned to the gang, as the person was dragged off stage.
A consultant for Perry couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
The incident highlights rising issues about poor etiquette at concert events, with viewers members throwing gadgets at artists similar to Harry Kinds and Girl Gaga.
Police within the state of New South Wales, which incorporates Sydney, informed NBC Information {that a} man had been arrested and charged with two offenses: getting into enclosed land and obstructing an individual in efficiency of labor or duties. They mentioned he had been detained by safety after leaping on stage throughout a live performance round 9:20 p.m. native time.
The person has been granted conditional bail and is because of seem in court docket on June 23, the police mentioned, declining to call him within the meantime. He has additionally been banned for six months from Sydney Olympic Park, the place the world is positioned.
The person has been recognized in Australian media as Johnson Wen, who describes himself as a “prankster” on his TikTok account, the place he goes by the username pyjamamann and has slightly over 1,100 followers.
“I used to be like, ‘Let me get on stage with you,’ after which she freaked out as a result of I believe she realized I wasn’t a performer,” Wen informed Australia’s 9 Information concerning the incident, including that he was “about to do the additional Fortnite transfer, however safety obtained there too fast.”
Earlier movies posted on Wen’s account present him working on stage at a live performance by The Weeknd in Melbourne final yr, and onto the sphere on the FIFA Girls’s World Cup last in 2023.
Wen informed 9 Information that his stage invasion days have been over.
“I’m planning to stop without end, since you get in approach an excessive amount of hassle for it,” he mentioned.
Wen didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. By Tuesday, he had posted 4 totally different movies of him dashing the stage.
“Katy Perry your songs are my Childhood Memmory since 2008,” he wrote in a caption for one of many movies. One other caption learn, “Me Hugging Katy Perry on Stage. I mentioned to Her “let me dance for you””
Perry has not in any other case publicly commented on the incident. Her tour was set to proceed Tuesday with one other present in Sydney earlier than she continues on to Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.