Avril Lavigne has handled a topless stage-crashing woman in a hilarious manner as she was interrupted by a protestor yesterday (March 13) while introducing a performer at the 2023 Juno Awards ceremony.
Lavigne, whose most recent album, Love Sux, was released last year, had a spectacular night when she won her fourth fan-voted Fan Favorite Award. Nevertheless, this particular ceremony also left Lavigne with lasting memories since she had to shoo away an unexpected guest onstage.
The timing of the incident was about as bad as security’s response time, creating an unwelcome interruption as AP Dhillon, the first Punjabi performer to ever take the stage at Canada’s annual music awards presentation, was preparing to go on after Lavigne’s introduction.
Sporting pink pants and a matching pink bandana, the protestor calmly walked onstage, conveying a message through words written in marker across their arms, torso and back, some of which read, “Land Back, “The Clock Is Ticking 0745 Days Left” and “Save the Green Belt,” all in an apparent reference to a highly controversial development deal in motion in Ontario, Canada’s Greenbelt region, a protected area of farmlands, forests, wetlands and more.
Lavigne did her best to brush aside the protestor and carry on with her scripted introduction, but she eventually caved and addressed the situation directly.
“Get the fuck off,” she says with a laugh before flicking the protestor’s breast, adding, “Get the fuck off, bitch,” followed by more laughter as a security guard then leads the stage-crasher away.
One Twitter user was surprised by the security team’s slow response time. Security personnel typically swarm the offender and remove them from the area when we witness someone crash a stage, but at the Juno Awards, the response was rather lax.
“A topless idiot walks up onstage while Avril Lavigne is introducing an act and security dude meanders his way up eventually. Avril handled it like most Canadians would,” they wrote.
