A Justin Bieber fanatic who stormed the singer’s stage in Dubai on Sunday night in an attempt to reach the star has been released and will not be arrested, concert organisers have said.
Thomas Ovesen, COO of Done Events said that the male intruder, who rushed the stage while Bieber was playing the piano towards the end of his set was “a crazed fan who wanted a hug”.
Despite some online reports saying that the singing sensation was grabbed by the intruder, Ovesen confirmed that Bieber was not manhandled.
“Our only consolation is that Bieber was not touched,” said Ovesen.
Bodyguards intervened and grabbed the male, whose identity is still unknown.
According to gig-goers, Bieber “ran away to the left of the stage”.
As the star sprinted to safety, bodyguards grappled with the intruder – and the piano that Bieber had been playing at just seconds before tumbled to the stage floor in the melee.
“It happened in the process of getting him off stage,” said Ovesen.
Asked whether the intruder had been arrested for his actions, Ovesen replied:
“You want him arrested? No, he’s a crazed fan who just wanted a hug.
“Everyone wants to be on stage with Justin Bieber.”
Security in the fan zone at the stadium is the responsibility of Done Events.
Asked by 7DAYS whether security had been tight enough at Bieber’s concert, the gig organiser replied: “We will look at that. There are lots of people who are not working in that area. People want to be a part of what’s going on.”
Ovesen said the onstage security that grabbed the male intruder was “a mix” of Bieber’s personal team and Done Events staff.
Despite the potential seriousness of the stage invasion, Bieber, who had been singing the song ‘Believe’ when the incident happened, continued to then perform two encore tracks.
Chris Sacca also tweeted a video of security running onto the stage with the message: “Whoa. Crazy fan tackled @justinbieber and knocked the piano down the stage. Mayhem.”
It was the singer’s second performance in as many nights at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai.
The 19-year-old, kept fans waiting even longer for the gig to start on the second night. He was due to come on stage at 8pm and finally arrived at 10.20pm.
He was two hours and six minutes late for his appearance on Saturday night.
