S. Samuel
A day after Odd Future's Left Brain was accused of striking a female photographer at last weekend's Voodoo Experience Fest in New Orleans, a witness has come forward to confirm the claims.
According to fellow photographer Skip Bolen, who was also in attendance, Left Brain (Vyron Turner) left a visible mark on the victim’s face.
“Turner immediately exploded into his vile hatred of photographers with a long string of obscenities, and then hit one male photographer first — breaking his Nikon 70-200mm lens,” he said in a statement. “A split second later [he] hit the female photographer Amy Harris in front of me — it was clearly assault and battery.” Bolen added that regarding the dispute on whether Left Brain took an actual swipe at Harris or just her camera, “they are both connected when a photographer is shooting photos — and after the incident, Amy Harris’ face was red.” (Billboard)
Details on what reportedly took place hit the Internet Monday (October 31) afternoon.
Harris claims she was slapped by rapper Left Brain, real name Vyron Turner, who knocked her camera out of her hands during the group’s performance at the Voodoo Experience on Sunday (30Oct11). Reports suggest Turner took aim at the snappers in the photo pit after Odd Future frontman Tyler, the Creator, voiced his dislike for photographers, insisting the fans should be allowed to stand closer to the stage. Turner is said to have showered the photographers with water, before pushing them and kicking their equipment and allegedly assaulting Harris. Harris has decided against taking legal action against the band, although she admits she felt unfairly targeted. (Chicago Tribune)
Although she is not seeking legal action, Harris addressed what went down.
“I have worked many shows before, and I’ve had to deal with a band flinging water at the photographers, but I never expected this to happen,” Harris told NBC after the incident. “In the pit, the male to female ratio is about 20 to 1. There were way more men in that pit than women.” (Exclaim)
In light of the photographer’s remarks, Odd Future’s publicist, Heathcliff Berru denied the claims.
“There simply is no truth to the accusation floating around the internet,” Berru tells Billboard.com’s The Juice. “It’s no secret that Odd Future has a love/hate relationship with photographers at shows. [It’s] simply because sometimes they are given access the group wishes there fans would have instead. After telling the photographers to clear out multiple times (as they’ve done before) Vyron (Leftbrain) took a swipe at a few cameras, NOT people. To manipulate the situation [and] to insinuate an attack on a woman specifically is careless and manipulative” (The Juice)
Check out footage from the Odd Future set down below:
