LOCAL artiste Tarah Holdipp says she was pushed onto the stage during last Tuesday night’s John Legend show and made a police report to this effect after being swiftly removed by a bodyguard.
In a statement titled Clearing The Air For All on her Facebook page Saturday, Holdipp said: “I was pushed by the force of the crowd onto the second step of stairs.”
She was responding to the stir caused when a bodyguard removed her from the stage just as Legend was making a crowd call fora dance partner.
Holdipp explained that while she was on the second step of stairs she told a police officer she wanted to step down but the officer advised her to continue walking.
“She then placed her foot to prevent anyone else from coming onto the stage and, as a result, I could not step back. If I had attempted to do so, I would have fallen,” Holdipp related.
Upon reaching the stage, her sole intention was to retrieve her keys and money, the artiste said.
She added that Legend’s bodyguard appeared on the stage and told her to get down, to which she replied that she merely wanted to get her keys and money from the stage.
“It was at that moment that he forced me off without having regard for what I was saying,” she reported.
I later spoke to two of Legend’s stage crew members and asked them to retrieve my personals but they indicated that they could not until the show was finished. I made a complaint with the Royal Barbados Police Force who held a meeting after the show with the bodyguard, one of the show promoters, an attorney, two other individuals and myself.
“At that meeting, it was found to be an unfortunate misunderstanding on the bodyguard’s part as he thought I was coming to attack John,” she explained.
Holdipp also said that those who pushed her apologized the next day.
She added: “It is clear that those who attended the show saw something completely different from what actually occurred.”
She also told her fans, via Facebook, that she was not the “giddy-headed artiste who runs up on any stage behind anyone. The only stage that I will be running on is the one for Jesus. He stands above all things, including myself. I have been to numerous shows, spoken to several artistes – locally, regionally and internationally – and have never freaked out, including performers at Broadway shows”. (RJ)
