Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine has defended his reaction to a fan grabbing him during a performance over the weekend.
The singer was in the middle of performing the band's hit Sunday Morning at the Hollywood Bowl's We Can Survive event in Los Angeles on Saturday when a fan rushed onto the stage and grabbed him before security whisked her away.
Footage of the incident was posted on TikTok with the caption, "Adam Levine was not having it" and the clip, showing the musician looking less than impressed, went viral, with fans subsequently accusing Levine of seeing his fans as "beneath" him.
He responded to the criticism in a video on his Instagram Stories on Tuesday, insisting he was simply shocked by the encounter.
"I have always been someone that loves, respects, worships our fans," he stated. "Without our fans, we don't have a job. I say that all the time, to our fans. To think that anyone would believe that I thought that our fans were beneath us, or less than us, makes my stomach turn. That's just not who I am. That's not who I've ever been.
"So I just need you guys to know I was really startled, and sometimes when you're startled... you have to shake it off and move on. Because I'm doing my job up there. And it's what I pride myself on, so I need to let you guys know what my heart is, and my heart is that connection that exists between the band performing onstage and the fans."
The 42-year-old concluded his message by stating that he hopes his fans can understand his reaction and blew a kiss to the camera.
