BRISBANE, Australia (CelebrityAccess) A disability advocate claims an aggressive security staff ignored her VIP tickets at a Eminem concert in Brisbane, Australia, and relegated her and her carer to a distant corner of the front-of-stage pit area.
Marlena Katene, a music journalist who has cerebral palsy, arrived early with her carer, Bert Hibbert, to get a good spot in the standing area at Queensland Sport Athletics Center Feb. 20. The Rapture 2019 VIP package offers fans early entry so they can “get the best position in front of the stage,” according to News Corp Australia. A video posted by Katene shows the two delegated to the back of the area in the near-empty stadium.
She captioned the live video “This is what segregation at Eminem looks like.”
“This has got to stop,” Katene wrote. “When we look at the royal commission space this week, this highlights why removing people with disability to spaces is wrong.”
She said and her friends had acted calmly and respectfully but that “Security once again have lied, saying we threatened, swore and were aggressive. Couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Katene joked Hibbert’s dancing was more of a safety risk than her wheelchair.
Hibbert said security wouldn’t allow her to mix and he was walked out when he said the group should be allowed to stay in the area.
“They kept shifting the blame and then security came over started pushing, literally,” he told news.com.au. “They walked me out, but couldn’t get Marlena’s chair to move. They were in process of getting police involved and were physically aggressive and accused myself of the same. I stood my ground and did not swear once.
“This is a common thing happening lately … Basically we did not get what the ticket says we can.”
Hibbert said the security and promoter Teg Danity didn’t take responsibility.
“Ultimately I believe the onus is on the venue – they choose to sell packages, they can’t say one part of society can’t access that.”
Katene called the security’s behavior “nothing but disgusting” but gave the promoter a pass.
“Teg Danity is okay, but still does not have a true idea of what inclusion actually is. The venue was average at best …. they actually agreed with our points.”
She added that she was removed from a Pink concert last year after being denied entry to a VIP area because of her wheelchair.
Katene posted the following prior to going to the concert:
News.com.au said it had reached out to the venue and Teg Dainty for comment.
