tigers_jaw_March_2014

Trying to kiss band members onstage is not okay

Is this becoming a new problem? According to tweets from band members, it looks like a male fan tried to kiss Britty Drake from Pity Sex and  Brianna Collins of Tigers Jaw at a show last night. (The two bands are currently on a summer tour together.)

“Sucks that a culture of entitlement has engrained that it’s cool to kiss nonconsenting strangers so well that he didn’t know what he did wrong,” Drake said on Twitter. Whether or not a fan even belongs on the stage is up for debate, given all of the stage diving incidents we’ve seen lately. But invading a band member’s personal space to the point of kissing is obviously ridiculous. Is this the next level of fan entitlement or what? Check out some tweets from band members and fans below, and let us know your thoughts.

Obviously, this is eerily similar to when a girl tried to kiss Story So Far singer Parker Cannon, and he pushed her off the stage. And there was that time a guy tried to do it do Paramore's Hayley Williams.

Jillian Lucas of Nerve.com has posted some pretty disturbing photos (taken by Sean O'Kane) of the incident:

UPDATE: Brianna Collins of Tigers Jaw has released a statement:

“Last night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, someone came on stage and very forcibly tried to kiss me, and actually did kiss Britty while she was playing. Another person from the tour was kissed while taking a photo… This tour is the first time something like this has happened to me, and I want to directly address it.

IT IS NEVER OKAY TO TOUCH SOMEONE WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT. Ever. I felt so upset and violated, as did the others who this happened to.. Touching someone without their consent is not only upsetting for that person, but is also a crime. We all need to respect each other’s space — whether it’s someone in the band or someone crowd surfing. I just want to play music with my friends and I shouldn’t have to be worried whether or not every person stage diving is going to do something like that. I don’t want it to come down to having to say that there’s no stage diving allowed at our shows, but if stuff like this keeps happening and I feel unsafe and uncomfortable when we play, I don’t know any other solution.

So please – DO NOT EVER touch/kiss/grab someone that has not given you consent to do so. You are not entitled to that no matter what the situation is. Be a decent human being and keep your hands to yourself.

– Brianna”

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