As a man, being a good ally to women often involves recognising a level of privilege and power, and actively using it to combat injustices.
That definitely includes sexual harassment. Fortunately, there are few people on Earth more influential than Drake on the mic at a packed Sydney nightclub.
Drake, hosting an after-party at Marquee after his show at Qudos Bank Arena, was captured on camera calling out a man for allegedly groping a woman in the crowd.
At the tail-end of Know Yourself, Drake asked the DJ to “stop that shit.”
Standing on the decks and pointing into the crowd, he said “if you don’t stop touching girls, I’mma come out there and fuck you up. I’m not playing with you, bro. Im not playing with you.
“If you don’t stop putting your hands on girls, I’mma come out there and fuck you up myself.”
Footage appears to show security workers grasp into the crowd, before pulling someone from the packed dancefloor.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbhxV6DHDrw/?hl=en&taken-at=11123362
After a brief pause, he jumped straight back into Jumpman.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bbhl0mggeTy/?hl=en&taken-at=11123362
It is currently unclear what happened to the bloke after Drake’s callout.
The incident is the latest in a long string of musos using their literal platform to point out harassment in the crowd.
Earlier this year, Circa Survive guitarist Brendan Ekstrom paused one of his band’s massive U.S. tour dates to walk off-stage to alert security to an apparent incident of harassment in the crowd.
Ekstrom addressed the issue later, saying “what I saw from stage was disturbing to me and completely removed me from the mindset I need to be on stage. It wasn’t cute. It was alarming.”
Drake’s Boy Meets World tour continues, the 6 God hitting up Melbourne this weekend.
This article discusses sexual assault & harassment. If you would like to talk to a counsellor about rape, sexual assault or domestic violence, give the people over at 1800 RESPECT a call on 1800 737 732.
