Gold Coast influencer Anna Paul has discussed the cancellation of her Perth meet-and-greet in a video shared to social media.
“I thought only, like, 100 people would come”, Paul said in a video posted last night.
“When in Sydney people started lining up, we were shocked.”
Despite mass criticism of STAX, the store hosting the event, for their inability to handle the crowds, Paul insisted STAX “ordered so much security that I thought it was overkill.”
The meet-and-greet was shut down over the weekend after more than 300 people stormed Perth’s CBD and paramedics were summoned to aid collapsing fans.
“It was OK for the first 20 minutes but cops then said ‘OK we’ve got to shut this down (for safety reasons) … There’s too many people’,” she said.
Watch her TikTok below:
@anna..paull The Perth Meet and Greet 🖤 We love you
Footage shared to social media showed a large crowd gathered outside outside the STAX store chanting “Anna!” as they waited to meet the influencer.
Daily Mail Australia reported that police were forced to intervene due to “tensions” between the patrons after several fans “jumped the queue” and caused the crowd to become unruly.
“Police attended a clothing store store in Hay Street Mall at the request of store’s management due to the store expecting about 200 to 300 people to attend an event publicised on social media,” WA Police said.
“A significantly larger crowd than expected attended. Tensions among some parts of the crowd were noticed to increase with allegations of ‘queue jumping’.
“Police requested the assistance of St John Ambulance after several people collapsed and required medical assistance.”
The event was supposed to run from 12pm to 4pm but was cancelled early.
WA Police confirmed that the event was cancelled “due to the size of the crowd” and “lack of appropriate security”.
Anna Paul subsequently released a statement about the cancellation on her Instagram, writing:
“Due to safety the West Australia police had to shut down the Perth meet and greet early,” she wrote.
“It became a huge safety hazard… thank you for being amazing… I am so so sorry we tried our very best to work with the police but it got too much.”
STAX, the store that held the event, also released a statement on their Insta.
Meanwhile disappointed fans took to social media to express their annoyance at the cancellation:
@christian_shay Those poor people who stayed overnight!
https://www.tiktok.com/@zoeyeyeee/video/7136814645104430338?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&q=anna%20paul&t=1661724028712
@_ledm_
@emily__maeve
