Disturbed’s David Draiman on Calling Out Texting Fan: ‘I Feel Badly About It and I Am Sorry’
Just last month, Disturbed's David Draiman made headlines for calling out an audience member after coming back for the encore of the show when he noticed a woman texting. As was later discovered when the woman granted an interview to the Dallas Observer, she had a good reason to be texting, checking on her child who had just gotten home in the midst of a terrible storm. Now Draiman is offering an apology for his actions.
Video footage of the incident has made the rounds online and while the singer never appeared near anger in his rant, he did make a point to single the woman out and try to get her to engage in the show, a tactic that upset the woman as she was scolded with most people in the venue looking on. During the discussion, Draiman points out how rude it was to be texting and asked if he could have her attention for the remainder of the encore.
He later addressed the issue on Facebook, stating his frustration over seeing someone engaged in their phone more than the show. These comments however came before the woman, Shannon Pardue, shared her side of the story in an interview. Pardue revealed that she tried to tell Draiman she was reaching out to her kids when he asked what was so important that she had to be on her phone, but without a microphone, he was unable to hear her explanation.
In speaking with us as part of a forthcoming interview, Draiman offered an apology for his actions and speaking without knowing the full context of the situation. "You know when I did what I did, it wasn't me trying to push her away. It was a matter of me trying to engage her," said the singer. "It's what I've done for years and in most circumstances if there is someone who is being passive. They respond positively, 'Oh, he acknowledged me. He's really watching. I will get into it and he's actually paying attention to me' and they become more involved. It's very unfortunate that it backfired obviously with her."
He continued, "I wasn't privy to the information of what she had going on and when I made my original Facebook post that information had not yet come out. I feel badly about it and I am sorry. I can only say at this particular point that I think that that tactic may be something that I from here on out remove from my live repertoire because obviously there is the chance of me making that scenario happen again if I don't have the information that would keep me from making that mistake."
Draiman concludes, "So again, I feel badly about it and I am sorry. I never want anyone to leave one of our shows feeling badly. The whole idea is to pull them in and to make them feel empowered and sometimes you've got to be a little forceful when you do that and if she got rubbed the wrong way, that is something that I regret."
Disturbed are currently touring with a wealth of dates ahead of them. They have North American shows with Rob Zombie, a number of festival appearances and a major summer tour with Breaking Benjamin, Alter Bridge and Saint Asonia on the horizon. Check here to see where they're playing.
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