Justin Bieber Mulling Legal Action After Reported Coachella Chokehold: Heavy-Handed?
Justin Bieber’s Coachella weekend ended with the superstar allegedly being placed in a chokehold by festival security and told to leave the Indio, California annual event. As far as Coachella experiences go, that’s pretty much the worst.
But was the alleged chokehold an overkill reaction by security marshalls, given that Bieber had permission to go backstage?
According to TMZ, Justin and his group made their way to the entrance of the VIP section during Drake’s headline show on Sunday night.
The singer was told by festival security that the artists’ entrance area was at full capacity and that he couldn’t enter. After which, Bieber and his crew reportedly tried to reason with security and showed them their wristbands, which allowed them access to the VIP area.
The 21-year-old star reportedly also told security he was personally invited by Drake and couldn’t watch the rapper’s show with the regular crowd, as he would be swarmed by fans. Unfortunately for Justin, festival marshalls didn’t budge.
TMZ and eyewitnesses allege the Biebs kept trying to argue his case with festival security. At that point, it’s reported a female Coachella staffer allegedly told Justin she would escort him inside the artists’ area, before grabbing him by the arm, as if to walk the singer and his crew inside.
The staffer’s security team allegedly then came up behind Justin and placed the singer in a chokehold. The Biebs’ bodyguards reportedly reacted by arguing with festival security, before the whole crew was finally ordered to leave the festival.
TMZ posted a video taken during the incident but not much of what’s claimed can be seen from the footage.
The site says sources close to Justin say he left voluntarily, but is exploring the possibility of taking legal action against the festival security team.
A female eyewitness, who allegedly also attended Drake’s show, later claimed on Twitter that someone tried to take a photo of Justin and shoved a bottle of water in his face. The onlooker claims the Biebs threw the bottle to one side, before then attempting to walk into the backstage VIP section.
The alleged witness’ claim isn’t confirmed. Regardless, a selection of her tweets follows.
@daika04 @BlEBERSWILD @amandaluvmessi @enhancebiebers @haltedbieber he didn’t throw a bottle at a person, just to the side
— maddie (@cairnsmadeline) April 13, 2015
@enhancebiebers yeah probably. But I can’t blame him, it was just a stressful situation. But he didn’t have to try and sneak in
— maddie (@cairnsmadeline) April 13, 2015
@enhancebiebers yes! And the people around Justin harassing him is what I think made him mad. it was so crowded and he would never get in
— maddie (@cairnsmadeline) April 13, 2015
It’s all a far cry from how Justin’s Coachella experience began. Last Thursday, he arrived in Indio with model pals Kendall Jenner, Hailey Baldwin, and a group of friends.
These included viners King Bach, Nash Grier, and Matthew Espinosa, models Yovanna Ventura, Chantel Jeffries, videographer Alfredo Flores, choreographer Nick DeMoura, and others who seem to have traveled to Coachella separately.
The singer was spotted at the dFM pool party on Friday before attending after parties with Kylie Jenner later that night. Justin and Kendall were also seen hanging out together at the McDonald’s and Chevrolet Pool Party at the Bootsy Bellows Estate on Saturday afternoon. The pair then watched headline sets from Tyler the Creator and The Weeknd.
Later, Justin attended the Neon Carnival party before Sunday’s alleged chokehold put an end to his fun.
For his part, the singer was spotted at the Westfield Palm Desert mall in Coachella Valley with Hailey on Monday, Desert Sun reports.
Just Now Spotted: @justinbieber in the Palm Springs mall. To bad security won’t let you get autographs. pic.twitter.com/8BoxOdOqDF
— Lainee Taylor (@Lainee_Taylor) April 13, 2015
just ran into @justinbieber at the mall. pic.twitter.com/1sgwtN4ttA
— karla (@KS7_) April 13, 2015
@kiidrauhlfinity pic.twitter.com/Kg0dcfZXzw
— prado salcedo paola (@paaowow_) April 13, 2015
On Monday night, Justin posted a picture of himself standing on the steps to a private jet with a caption citing lyrics from Jay Z ft. Rick Ross “F— With Me You Know I Got It” track.
It reads, “I just landed in Europe, shopping bags I’m a tourist.”
[Images via Instagram/Shots/Getty Images/FilmMagic]
