Björk Rips into Kiwi
Björk has given new meaning to the phrase "thunder from Down Under."
The pint-sized Icelandic singer attacked a newspaper photographer in New Zealand Sunday after he attempted to get a few shots off upon her arrival at Auckland International Airport, per local media reports.
New Zealand Herald shutterbug Glenn Jeffrey told his country's Press Association news agency that he had simply snapped a few pictures of Björk when she all of a sudden grabbed him and ripped his T-shirt.
"As I turned and walked away she came up behind me, grabbed the back of my black skivvy and tore it," Jeffrey, 25, said. "As she did this she fell over, she fell to the ground."
"At no stage did I touch her or speak with her," he added.
Jeffrey said that the "It's Oh So Quiet" songstress didn't say anything, but that he could hear her male companion saying, "B, don't do this, B, don't do this."
An airport spokeswoman told reporters that there is video footage of the incident in case police request it. (But in case they don't, you can still see it on YouTube.)
Jeffrey has spoken to the cops, but as yet it's unknown whether any further action will be taken.
"I don't see being assaulted as I'm working as a press photographer as an acceptable thing," Jeffrey said. "If anybody assaults anybody you have the right to a legal recourse, whoever they are."
Per the Herald, Björk also went postal on a reporter in 1996 when the hapless journalist tried to ask the 12-time Grammy nominee's then-10-year-old son Sindri a question. The Dancer in the Dark star later apologized and no charges were ever filed.
The allegedly volatile chanteuse is in town to perform at the Big Day Out music festival on Friday. The annual event sets up shop in both New Zealand and Australia and she is among the artists set to appear in both countries. Other headliners this year include Rage Against the Machine, Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem.