Fifth Harmony defends security team accused of touching fans inappropriately
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TORONTO, ON - JUNE 19: (L-R) Ally Brooke, Camila Cabello, Normani Hamilton, Lauren Jauregui and Dinah-Jane Hansen of Fifth Harmony perform at the 2016 iHeartRADIO MuchMusic Video Awards at MuchMusic HQ on June 19, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Ernesto Distefano/Getty Images) (2016 Getty Images)
Fifth Harmony say the recent murder of Christina Grimmie at a fan event has put the group and its security team on high alert. That's why they are defending a security guard who was accused of “inappropriate touching” of a fan at a hotel in Rio de Janeiro.
“We have been really busy working and making sure that you guys have as amazing of an experience with us as possible,” the girl group said in a statement released on Twitter, “but we feel like sometimes you guys forget that there are only 5 of us versus the hundreds of you.”
The group – made up of Ally Brooke, Camila Cabello, Lauren Jauregui, Dinah Jane and Normani Kordei – issued the statement following an outburst of tweets complaining about the way security guards were treating young female fans, including some who had paid for meet-and-greets.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We’ve seen all over Twitter outrage over one of our security guards attacking and trying to inappropriately touch one of our fans, and we wanted to put out a statement calling out this lie,” the statement read. “We were there. The girl tried to come to Lauren and Dinah’s doors, and the security we hired were with us speaking to us and making sure we were safe.”
They went on to say that the unidentified fan then lied to the security guards about where she was staying before trying to lunge toward Jauregui’s door to give her a note. Four of them were watching and “experienced this scene with our eyes.”
The statement went on, “She combated and fought to break free of their directing her and in the process was shouting that they were touching her and trying to take her clothes off ... Not one security guard inappropriately touched or harmed anyone. They would never intentionally harm any of our fans.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The singers added, "We will continue to support our security team in making sure that they protect the boundaries so many people seem to think they’re entitled to disrespect. They’re only trying to keep us safe.”
Fifth Harmony kicked off its 7/27 Tour on June 22 and are set to perform in São Paulo Tuesday night. In spite of the backlash, the singers are not backing down.
“We're sorry for any inconvenience, but we do not appreciate people lying about our team and costing people their jobs just so they can get extra attention from us," their statement read. "We'd appreciate if you recognized that when you disrespect our team and their hard work, you're disrespecting us.”
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