Adam Levine on backlash over his reaction to fan’s hug: ‘That anyone would believe…makes my stomach turn’

Singer Adam Levine addressed an incident that took place at the Maroon 5 concert recently. A fan gatecrashed his performance to hug him. A video clip from the concert has surfaced online. 

In the clip, a girl rushed to the stage and gave Adam Levine a side hug. Adam, who was performing with his eyes closed, after looking at the girl pulled himself free from her. He then rolled his eyes at the audience, mouthed a cuss word, brushed his T-shirt, shivered and walked away.

The security too rushed on the stage and pulled the girl away from Adam. The incident occurred at the Hollywood Bowl last week, where Maroon 5 performed at the We Can Survive charity concert.

Following the incident, Adam took to his Instagram Stories and said he was startled. He added that he is someone who ‘loves, respects, worships’ his fans.

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“So, I just wanted to address the Hollywood Bowl incident thing, a fan coming up to me on-stage. I have always been someone that loves, respects, worships our fans. Without our fans, we don’t have a job. I say that all the time to our fans. To think that anyone would believe that I thought that our fans were beneath us or less than us makes my stomach turn. That’s just not who I am. That’s not who I’ve ever been,” he said in the videos shared on his Instagram Stories. 

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Adam added, “So I just need you guys to know I was really startled. And sometimes when you’re startled, you have to shake it off and move on cause I’m doing my job up there. It’s what I pride myself on. So, I need to let you guys know where my heart is and my heart is that connection that exists between the band performing onstage and the fans. I hope we can all understand that.” He then blew a kiss to the camera.

People had criticised him for his reaction at the concert on Twitter. A user wrote, “I agree that it’s not okay to think that you can just jump onstage and grab anyone, but his reaction was that of someone who was disgusted. You see performers that understand that fans get out of control or a little too excited, but he didn’t have that. Disappointed.”

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However, others said that it was wrong of the girl to touch him. A fan tweeted, “Did y’all forget that we’re in the middle of a pandemic? Also, he doesn’t owe being all smiles if someone touches him without his consent, he’s a human first, entertainer second.” “Imagine a male fan grabbing a female performer like that. Quit it with the double standards,” wrote another person.