Brian May Comments on Altercation with Australian News Cameraman
UPDATE 2/12/2020 11:40 AM ET: Brian May has responded to the video that has surfaced of him getting into an altercation with an Australian News Cameraman
May shared the following to his Instagram:
“My Welcome to Brisbane!
First of all THANKS to so many of you folks who managed to find a way to send me supportive messages while I’ve been quietly trying to work my way through the feelings generated by the incident that happened at Brisbane Airport, just moments after I landed in Australia.
No – I’m not all right. But I will be. It certainly ruined my day, and if that’s what you wanted, Channel 7, then you got it. There’s a fine line between anger and depression, and I’ve been struggling with all of that since I got ambushed and harrassed by a TV News team, fresh off the plane from New Zealand.
Now, obviously I’m not a novice at this…I’ve interacted with literally thousands of news reporters, photographers and cameramen over the last 50 years. I’m not exactly known for being aggressive, even in the face of provocation, but this guy caught me unawares – one of the rudest and most disrespectful video cameramen I’ve ever encountered. As we drove out of the airport, I noticed a small group of young kids with Queen albums, waving a welcome. I find it hard to just drive by in a case like this. Yes, they could have been pesky e-bay hounds just looking to make a quick buck, but these guys looked like very genuine fans. This stuff still matters to me. So we stopped the car and I got out to sign their Queen material, and they kindly gave me gifts of typically Australian goodies. Lovely.
Pressed up against the kids was a guy with a huge TV camera. I’d noticed him, obviously, but I had no idea who he was – whether he was part of the party of kids, or a third party. I just let him film for the few moments I was signing the albums. But these kids were clearly very moved by the meeting, and I felt they deserved to have a few moments NOT being filmed for public sharing. So, in the nicest possible way, I turned to the cameraman and asked if he’d stop filming, now he’d got his story, and give us some private moments. He refused. He kept on filming, and aggressively turned the camera close-up on my face. That, to me, felt like deliberate invasion of my space, and downright unfriendly. At that moment, everything changed. (To be cont’d)”
ORIGINAL STORY
Brian May was filmed getting into an altercation with a news cameraman when Queen + Adam Lambert arrived in Brisbane, Australia for their current run of tour dates.
In the footage below, May is seen interacting with fans after landing in Australia. When he sees the news cameraman, May says, “You gotta stop that because I ain’t doing this.” The cameraman continued filming, which led to May to say, “Excuse me, I said no. Alright, is this going to get ugly? Because you put it down now, or else something ugly happens. Do you understand? You stop now. I’m serious. I’m deadly serious.”
The cameraman then puts away the camera he was using, but then takes out his cell phone to film May, which led to the guitarist to say, “Oh, the guy’s doing it on his phone now. You’re so clever, aren’t you? What a parasite you are. Just leave us alone, will you? Do you not understand? All right, all right. You go away now!” At this time, this is where May gets physical with the cameraman. May then is taken to a nearby car where he apologized to fans saying, “I’m sorry it was made ugly by this guy.”
The news story below doesn’t offer any additional details as to what led to this incident besides simply filming May. At the time of publishing this story, the guitarist has yet to comment on these events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErLKzA4YfRo
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