Badass MenNovember 27, 2017

Drake Stops Performance to Call Out Man Harassing Women in Audience

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In the early hours of Wednesday, November 15th, Drake abruptly stopped a performance at the Sydney Marquee Nightclub in Sydney, Australia to stop a man from harassing a woman in the audience.

During his song “Know Yourself,” Drake told his crew to cut the mic just after he sang his well-known line, “Running through the 6 with my woes.”

“If you don’t stop touching girls, I’m going to come out there and f— you up,” he told the man. The crowd immediate burst into a roar of applause. The man may not have heard him due to the crowd, or perhaps he thought the rapper was messing around, so Drake repeated himself. “I’m not playing with you, if you don’t stop putting your hands on girls I’m gonna come out there and f— you up.”

The entire moment was captured on video by many people in the audience and soon went viral on social media. In one particular video, security guards can be seen entering the crowd to presumably remove the man from the venue.

Drake has received much praise from fans and fellow celebrities. Blogger Luke Waltham tweeted, “We need more men like Drake who will call out trash who objectify, harass and grope women.”

MSNBC contributor Scott Dworkin tweeted, “I don’t condone violence, but I absolutely condone men speaking out. We need more of this. If you see something, say something.”

Drake threatens fan who was groping woman at a club: “I will f*ck you up”
I don’t condone violence but I absolutely condone men speaking out. We need more of this. If you see something say something. @drake #TheResistance https://t.co/ElYEuFMr38
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) November 15, 2017

Other musicians have vowed to follow Drake’s example and stop their own shows if they see or hear about sexual harassment in the audience. Amid many allegations of sexual harassment, the action that Drake took at his concert to protect women, when he could have ignored it, is very important.

Sexual harassment is a huge problem at festivals and concerts. Many instances go unreported due to victims’ fear of being shamed. The bystander effect also comes into play here, which happens when people ignore something because they think someone else will handle it. When people remain silent, they are contributing to the problem.

Sexual harassment happens at every concert or festival in one way or another, and it is time people stop ignoring it. Although everyone is very appreciative of the musicians that stay aware of what is happening in their audience, it should not take the headliner of a concert to halt a performance for people to realize what is happening around them in the crowd.

Featured Image by musicisentropy on Flickr