Adam Levine insists he wasn’t expressing disgust at a female fan who grabbed him during a Maroon 5 performance in Los Angeles last weekend.
Video of Levine’s reaction to being accosted on stage went viral. He can be seen saying “f**k” and then physically shaking off the encounter before knocking over a mic stand and rushing to the other end of the stage.
Luis Peñaloza, who posted the clip, wrote “Adam Levine was not having it” and captioned his post: “Adam Levine was a whole mood yesterday.”
@luispenaloza9525Adam Levine was a whole mood yesterday ##Fyp ##ForYou ##Maroon5 ##AdamLevine ##Hollywood ##HollywoodBowl
♬ Sunday Morning - Maroon 5
In an Instagram Story, Levine addressed criticism of his reaction.
“I have always been someone that loves, respects, worships our fans. Without our fans, we don’t have a job. I say that all the time to our fans,” he said.
“To think that anyone would believe that I thought that our fans were beneath us or less than us makes my stomach turn. It’s just not who I am, it’s not who I’ve ever been.”
Levine added: “So I just need you guys to know, I was really startled. And sometimes when you’re startled, you have to shake it off and move on, ’causes I’m doing my job up there. It’s what I pride myself on.
“So I need to let you guys know what my heart is, and my heart is that connection that exists between the band performing onstage and the fans. I hope that we can all understand that.”