Mario Scolds Concertgoer Who Inappropriately Touched His Crotch While He Was Singing

Mario may like to get up close and personal with fans at his shows, but one woman crossed the line at his recent stop in Detroit, inappropriately feeling up the singer’s crotch as he was performing on stage.

In a video captured by someone else at the concert posted Monday (Nov. 24), Mario stands at the very edge of the stage at the Masonic Jack White Theatre, close enough for fans in the pit to touch him. One of them, however, took it too far and slid a hand over his groin.

Feeling the woman cupping his private area, the artist kneeled down and appeared to scold her, telling her to stop.

Billboard has reached out to Mario’s rep for comment.

The incident serves as an important reminder that touching anyone without permission is never OK. Elsewhere in the Detroit show, Mario invited a woman to join him on stage and sang as she grinded against him — the key difference between the two situations being that in this case, both parties involved gave consent.

Mario is just the latest star to experience unwanted touch from fans. Earlier this month, Ariana Grande made headlines after a rogue Wicked premiere attendee jumped over a barricade and charged at her, grabbing on to her shoulder. It was later revealed that this was just the latest instance in a pattern of similar behaviors, with cops previously arresting the culprit — 26-year-old Australian man Johnson Wen — for stage-crashing a Katy Perry show and putting hands on her.

Other artists have also reported an increase in concertgoers throwing objects at them as they’re performing on stage, a trend that seems to have started sometime after the live-music industry resumed post-pandemic. This year alone, Luke Bryan was hit in the face by an object lobbed at him during a show, and Liam Gallagher went off on an Oasis fan who threw a live flare into one of his crowds. Billie Eilish — who’s had her own share of fans chucking things at her during shows — also recently had an audience member forcefully grab her, causing her to fall and slam into the barricade at a Hit Me Hard & Soft Tour stop.