“Adele stopped her show Saturday night in Las Vegas to scold a security guard who was ‘bothering’ an audience member,” CNN reported. The singer, “who is doing her ‘Weekends With Adele’ show at Colosseum at Caesars Palace,” stopped it, Consequence says, “in Las Vegas on Saturday night, August 26th.” The audience member was a young fan, and in his TikTok caption, quoted by Rolling Stone, he wrote: “I had been planning to come to this concert for over a year.”
From the moment she came on, he stood: he “passionately belts out every word to Adele’s songs,” as NPR put it, “even though many of the people in his section were seated.” “One usher approaches him to announce, ‘Look behind you! Everybody’s upset with you,’” Stereogum wrote; in NPR’s transcript, “Look behind you. Everybody’s upset - everybody.” He was told, Rolling Stone reported, to “sit down and look at the rest of the section, which was sitting.”
“Adele seemed to notice from the stage,” Rolling Stone wrote, and she called out, “You can stand up there darling. You can stand up!” He “shot up before security approached him again.” Then “Adele was in the middle of singing ‘Water Under the Bridge’ and stopped the music,” CNN reported, and asked about “that young fan who’s been bothered so much, since I came on, for standing up”: “Why are you all bothering him? Can you leave him alone, please?”
“They won’t bother you anymore, darling. You enjoy the show,” she told him, and “Adele filled the crowd in on what had happened,” CNN wrote: “Sorry, guys. He’s been bothered the whole show by security and other people sitting behind him. He’s here to have fun. All of you are here to have fun.” “Let’s start again,” she said, The Independent reported, “before launching back into ‘Water Under the Bridge’ from the top.”
In his caption, quoted by Rolling Stone, Entertainment Tonight and Stereogum, the fan wrote: “Adele thank you so much for this breathtaking night and for standing up for me.” Later, NPR reported, “he told TMZ he was sorry others complained,” and said: “But I only had one opportunity to see her, and I took it.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- She stopped her own show, because security wouldn’t leave one fan alone. CNN: “Adele stopped her show Saturday night in Las Vegas to scold a security guard who was ‘bothering’ an audience member.” Adele: “He’s been bothered the whole show by security and other people sitting behind him.” 1
- Her name is Adele, and this was Las Vegas. CNN: “The singer, who is doing her ‘Weekends With Adele’ show at Colosseum at Caesars Palace.” Consequence: “in Las Vegas on Saturday night, August 26th, when she stopped her show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.” 13
- A young fan had planned this night for over a year. Adele (CNN): “that young fan.” His TikTok caption, quoted by Rolling Stone: “I had been planning to come to this concert for over a year.” 14
- When she came on, he stood up and belted out every word. Adele (CNN): “that young fan who’s been bothered so much, since I came on, for standing up?” NPR: “… passionately belts out every word to Adele’s songs.” 16
- But the rest of his section was sitting down. Rolling Stone: “… to sit down and look at the rest of the section, which was sitting.” NPR: “even though many of the people in his section were seated.” 46
- An usher told him, “Look behind you. Everybody’s upset.” NPR (from his video): “Look behind you. Everybody’s upset - everybody.” Stereogum: “One usher approaches him to announce, ‘Look behind you! Everybody’s upset with you.’” 65
- Adele noticed and told him he could stand up. Rolling Stone: “Adele seemed to notice from the stage”; “You can stand up there darling. You can stand up!” Stereogum: “Between songs, Adele can be heard from the stage announcing, ‘You can stand up now, darling!’” 45
- He jumped up, and security came back. Rolling Stone: “… shot up before security approached him again.” Stereogum: “During the next song, he’s approached by another staff member.” 45
- In the middle of “Water Under the Bridge,” she stopped the music. CNN: “Adele was in the middle of singing ‘Water Under the Bridge’ and stopped the music.” 1
- “Why are you all bothering him?” she asked. CNN (the same words on ABC7): “Why are you all bothering him? Can you leave him alone, please?” 12
- “Can you leave him alone, please?” CNN: “Can you leave him alone, please?” NPR: “Can you leave him alone please?” 16
- “They won’t bother you anymore, darling,” she told him. CNN: “She then told the man, ‘They won’t bother you anymore, darling. You enjoy the show.’” NPR: “They won’t bother you anymore, darling.” 16
- “He’s here to have fun,” she told the crowd. CNN: “Adele filled the crowd in on what had happened, saying, ‘Sorry, guys. He’s been bothered the whole show by security and other people sitting behind him. He’s here to have fun. All of you are here to have fun.’” 1
- Then she started the song again. CNN: “She then started ‘Water Under the Bridge’ over again.” The Independent: “‘Let’s start again,’ said Adele before launching back into ‘Water Under the Bridge’ from the top.” 18
- He thanked her for “standing up for me.” His TikTok caption, quoted by Rolling Stone, Entertainment Tonight and Stereogum: “Adele thank you so much for this breathtaking night and for standing up for me.” 475
- “I only had one opportunity to see her,” he said, “and I took it.” NPR: “he told TMZ he was sorry others complained. … But I only had one opportunity to see her, and I took it.” Entertainment Tonight: “‘I only had one opportunity to see her, and I took it,’ he told the outlet.” 67
Sources
- Adele stops Las Vegas show to tell security to leave a fan alone (Marianne Garvey, CNN, August 28, 2023) FOX5 Las Vegas
- Adele stops Las Vegas show to tell security to leave a fan alone (CNN, August 28, 2023) ABC7
- Adele stops show to defend fan from security (August 28, 2023) Consequence
- Adele Stops Show to Defend Fan Bothered by Security for ‘Standing Up’ and Singing (Tomás Mier, August 28, 2023) Rolling Stone
- Adele Concertgoer Speaks Out After Singer Makes Security Stop Bothering Him (Chris DeVille, August 28, 2023) Stereogum
- When concert security told a fan to sit down, Adele told them to leave him alone (Elizabeth Blair, All Things Considered, August 29, 2023) NPR, via KAXE
- Adele Stops Las Vegas Show to Defend Fan From Being ‘Bothered’ by Security (Anthony Dominic, August 29, 2023) Entertainment Tonight
- Adele halts show to rebuke security guard hassling a fan: ‘Leave him alone’ (Annabel Nugent, August 28, 2023) The Independent
Notes
The date: The Independent wrote “Saturday night (25 August),” but August 25, 2023, was a Friday; CNN, Rolling Stone and Entertainment Tonight say Saturday night, and Consequence says “Saturday night, August 26th.”
Who spoke to him first: Stereogum calls her an usher; NPR and Rolling Stone say a woman, and Rolling Stone then says security approached him again. The Short says an usher, then security.
Her words: what she told him between songs differs by source (“You can stand up there darling” in Rolling Stone; “You can stand up now, darling!” in Stereogum), so the Short paraphrases it. “Why are you all bothering him?” follows CNN and Rolling Stone; The Independent and Entertainment Tonight have “Why are you bothering him?”
Left out: a popular retelling says he was about to be thrown out; no source says so, so it isn’t used. NPR’s line that fans say there were signs encouraging them to stand up couldn’t be checked, so it isn’t used either. Standing at seated shows is a real debate, and NPR’s piece is about it; he said he was sorry others complained.
Adele is alive. The fan is a private person: he isn’t named or shown here, and his name is cut from quotes (“…”); only his own published words are used. The usher and security staff aren’t named or shown. Only published reporting and Adele’s words from the stage are used; nothing here goes into her private life.
Pictures: no free photo shows that night, the fan, the usher or the security staff. Adele is at her Weekends With Adele residency at the Colosseum on February 24, 2023, six months earlier, her face on the big screen and Adele herself small at the right (Lady Lotus); in Glasgow on March 26, 2016 (three photos by marcen27); in Nashville on October 16, 2016, with her band and backing singers and under confetti at the end of the show (four photos by Kristopher Harris); and singing “Hello” in Munich on August 14, 2024 (Michele Kosteva). The Colosseum at Caesars Palace is seen at night on July 25, 2015 (Supercarwaar). Staff closing access after her Munich show on August 9, 2024, seen from behind, stand in for the Las Vegas security staff (Oroborvs, cropped). The crowd photos are stock photos of other concerts: raised hands in Houston on October 3, 2016 (Chad Kirchoff), a black-and-white crowd in 2015 (Hannah Rodrigo), a concert hall in Somerley, UK, on September 26, 2016 (Rob Bye), and a club gig in 2015 (Melanie van Leeuwen); none is Adele’s show. The other people in these photos are not named.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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