UPDATED 10/14, 8:30 p.m. ET: Mario says that people are “misinformed” about the viral video where he is seen telling a cameraman to “get the fuck off the stage.”
In a lengthy Instagram Story shared on Tuesday (Oct. 14), the singer says he was unaware that someone would be filming his set at the Big Fresno Fair on Saturday (Oct. 11).
“People are misinformed about the Fresno situation. No one told us a camera man was shooting my set. I got to the show 10 min before my performance and went on stage,” wrote the “Let Me Love You” singer.
He continued, “Multiple times while seeing the camera man through my peripheral. I got distracted and one time almost tripped over [a] speaker trying to make sure i'm not walking in the same direction as him. He was too far down stage. A camera man is not supposed to be that far down stage unless he's with you and shooting you that close for a reason. It really can throw you off. In the midst of all of that while walking back stage right, I got frustrated and that's when i said, ‘Yo you gotta get the f*ck off the stage.’”
The singer said he is taking “accountability for being o to 100 type of person,” and explained that this is why he stays “out the way most of the time.”
“I never want one recorded incident to wipe away the work I've done as a person to stay out of ya'll mouths and the blogs!!” he added. “[I]'ve performed under all types of circumstances. I'm a very professional person through and through. Anybody who works with me knows that.”
He then offered an apology in a direct message to the cameraperson, writing, “To the camera man, you got caught in the cross fire my boi and i'm sorry u had to experience that! It was nothing personal. You're welcomed to come and shoot me on tour it will be ‘Nothing But Us’ tour and we can do it the right way!”
“To the fans who were triggered i love u,” he concluded, while dedicating a middle-finger emoji to the “bots.”
See original story below.
Mario abruptly stopped his set during a performance at The Big Fresno Fair over the weekend to confront a cameraman in a heated moment that quickly went viral.
The incident happened while Mario was performing, when mid-song he turns towards a cameraman and say, "Yo, you gotta get the fuck off the stage, dog. Get him off the stage."
The cameraman, later identified as Ryan Hudgins, appeared startled and began stepping back, but Mario repeated the command more aggressively when Hudgins didn't move fast enough.
"Yo, get the fuck of the stage n***a. Get off the stage," Mario said before Hudgins eventually exited the stage as the crowd watched.
The moment was recorded by fans and spread across social media. Hudgins later addressed the situation in a post on Instagram, sharing a recap of his night.
"How the night ended in comparison to how it began," Higgins wrote. He also thanked the promoter and complimented the artists and their teams, noting, "Even @marioworldwide team and security were respectful."
As of now, Mario has not publicly commented on the incident or explained what led to the outburst. Mario's moment comes amid a growing number of artists confronting people mid-performance. Earlier this month, rapper Eladio Carrión stopped his concert in Guatemala City after someone from the crowd allegedly threw a can at him on stage.