Hayley Williams stops Paramore show to break up a fight: ‘Detention for everyone’
Hayley Williams, the 21-year-old from Tennessee, sat onstage last night, singing a slow song about heartbreak and holding court for her fans.
The Paramore singer had just released her fourth album, “Honeybee Hooray!”, and was giving a short and sweet performance on the last song of the evening, on the topic of love.
Hayley and fellow Paramore band members had just been told by their label that they had to make a few changes to the album. One of those changes involved a song called “I Want You” that ended up at No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100, a year ago on the heels of their third album “Warriors”.
As Hayley was singing that song, someone in the audience had yelled: “No! No! No! That’s not what I want!” A fight ensued and Paramore fans in the front row had been told by a security guard to get out of the venue. A man, later identified as Joshua Martin, 25, was pulled out and arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. He was reportedly arrested after a fight broke out between him and Paramore fan Nathan Jones.
Later that night, Hayley Williams was asked by NBC News if she thought Martin would have gotten such a harsh warning if the fight had occurred onstage. “I think a lot of people would’ve got it if we were playing in the show,” she said. “Honestly, I wouldn’t think that that would play into the equation. But if it did I would think that the same thing would happen, because we’re trying to go in like a crowd when we sing and we’re all in the same room together at the same time.”
Williams then addressed the situation with another Paramore lyric: “I’m in love and I can’t keep my mouth shut/And it hurts to keep it closed when I know you’re coming around.”
