Slowthai brawls with fan after ‘misogynist’ interaction with Katherine Ryan at NME Awards
Ryan said that she handled the incident, tweeting: ‘I knew he had lost from the moment he opened his mouth’
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Slowthai has been condemned after brawling with an audience member at the NME Awards, shortly after a “misogynist” interaction with the comedian Katherine Ryan.
The UK rapper was collecting the award for Hero of the Year when he approached Ryan, who was hosting the event. He then began making a series of lewd comments towards the star, pawing at her and insisting she smell his cologne.
“Baby girl, I don’t want to have to do this right now,” he said. “But she needs to understand the levels right now, you know what I’m saying? If you want to do something, see me later.”
“She wants me to tend to her flowers,” the rapper added. “You’ve never had no one play with you the way I play.”
Ryan replied sarcastically: “You are like the hottest guy I’ve ever seen … I am so thirsty for your c***, thank you for the attention.”
After a fan shouted ‘misogynist’ from the crowd, Slowthai responded with anger, slamming the fan for “ruining my speech” before throwing his microphone onto the ground and calling the fan a “wasteman”.
The microphone was then hurled back at the rapper, along with a wine glass. Slowthai subsequently hurled his own wine glass into the crowd in response, before attempting to fight with the fan. He was pulled back by security and ejected from the main awards area shortly after.
While the altercation occurred, Ryan could be seen attempting to calm Slowthai.
On Twitter, Ryan downplayed claims that she had been made “uncomfortable” by the interaction, and insisted that she had handled it.
“This is why we need women in positions of power,” the Canadian comedian wrote. “I knew he had lost from the moment he opened his mouth like any heckler coming up against a COMIC – not a woman – a COMIC.”
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“I was operating 2/10,” she added. “What a sweet boy. I defused it. Tonight was fun!”
Slowthai, who received seven additional nominations at the ceremony, earned criticism last year for performing with a fake severed head of Boris Johnson at an awards show.
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