Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine has divided social media users after a clip of him being rushed by a fan went viral.
The original incident occurred during the band's recent performance at the Hollywood Bowl in LA, California, on Saturday, October 23. Maroon 5 were part of a star-studded line-up at Audacy's eighth annual fundraiser concert called We Can Survive.
However, during the group's performance of their single 'Sunday Morning', one overzealous woman rushed the stage and cuddled up to Levine. However, the unwanted interaction left Levine visibly upset - as he stopped singing and should be seen gesturing to the crowd as the woman was pulled off the stage by security.
Footage of the incident was later shared on social media, where it amassed over 11 million views.
Check it out below:And in the comments section, people were divided over Levine's reaction, with some people calling the singer out.
One person commented: "ughh I can't stand celebrities that act like this [...] they forget that with out fans they ain't nobody [sic]."
A second added: "A true performer entertainer singer would not do this obviously everyone is vaccinated in that concert."
A third wrote that Levine is "stuck up" and "thinks so highly of himself", as a fourth commented: "Once these guys start getting money they forget about their fans."
However, there were also plenty of comments defending Levine and his reaction to the situation, with musician and comedian Sarah Hester Ross saying: "Nope. How about we stop defending people touching other people without consent."
Another agreed, writing: "He doesn't even have to be humbled... a random person invaded his personal space during a pandemic he acted the right way, yall [just] want to make him bad."
"HE DID NOTHING WRONG," another TikTok user commented.
And another said: "Just because he's a celebrity doesn't mean he owes anyone anything. His reaction is 100% valid."
In response to the video going viral, Levine has since shared a video with his fans on Instagram in which he explains his actions.
Speaking in his Instagram Stories, Levine said: "I just wanted to address the Hollywood Bowl incident thing, a fan coming up to me onstage.
"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. It's just not who I am, it's not who I've ever been."
He 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, cos I'm doing my job up there. It's what I pride myself on."
"So I need to let you guys know what 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."
I think we can all agree that people cannot just grab other people without permission - regardless of who they are.
