Drew Barrymore appeared alongside actor and musician Reneé Rapp at 92nd Street Y in New York yesterday (21 August), when the two women got together for a chat about Rapp’s music before she performed songs from her debut LP, Snow Angel.
Watch video here:
Footage from the event shows the women deep in conversation before a member of the crowd suddenly shouted ‘Drew Barrymore’ at the stage, causing the actor to look up in shock.
“Oh my god, yes? Hi!,” she said, looking over at the side of the stage where the man was approaching.
The man went on to identify himself as ‘Chad Michael Busto’, adding: “You know who I am. I need to see you at some point while you’re in New York.”
Rapp moved forward in her seat as the man drew near, evidently anxious, then leaped to her feet and grabbed Barrymore by the waist.
Barrymore and Rapp quickly left the astonished, silent audience as a security guard raced out onto the stage to try to block the man as he made his way up the front of the audience.
Later, the footage was posted online with a commentary that called the man a “stalker” and stated that he had been led from the location following the encounter.
According to posts made by The 92nd Street Y, the event went on as scheduled after the man was taken out of the structure, and Rapp performed the album’s tunes as promised.
Barrymore has not spoken out on the incident since it happened, but it thankfully didn’t appear to ruin the mood as fans later shared posts describing the event as ‘amazing’.
“Tonight changed my life,” one fan wrote. “Thank you Renee and Drew for inspiring me I love you both so much.”
Fans were left shocked by the man’s brazen approach during the event, with one Twitter user writing: “LEAVE CELEBRITIES ALONE! They’re just people.”
Another added: “There needs to be way better laws that deal with stalking,” while a third said: “Omg? Poor drew!! She doesn’t deserve this!! Sending lots of love her way!! Hopefully people stop stalking her!!”
Back in 2006, another Barrymore fan was charged with sending threatening letters laced with fake anthrax to the actor because she wasn’t responding to his letters.
The letters also contained photographs of Barrymore.
