Morrissey downplays video that appears to show him getting attacked, punched on stage

Morrissey was hit during a live stage performance over the weekend.
(Reuters)

While wrapping up a concert in San Diego over the weekend, singer Morrissey was punched in the face after aggressive fans stormed the stage.

According to TMZ, the singer was swept off the stage in the middle of his encore at the San Diego Symphony Hall on Saturday. In a video that’s reportedly from the event, several people can be seen trying to get past security to the singer. Eventually, one manages to sneak by and lands a blow to Morrissey while he’s trying to continue the performance.

He was quickly ushered off stage as security got things under control, moving the attacker out in a chokehold. Fans reportedly waited to see if the star would return to finish out the encore, but soon realized that the concert was over and left.

Representatives for Morrissey did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

Unfortunately, it’s unclear what motivated the attack.TMZ posted a video from the incident as well a YouTube user by the name of Tamago Sandwich, both of which can be watched below. However, despite how it may look, a statement provided to Fox News downplays the incident as not being nearly as violent as it looks in the videos.

“Nobody tried to punch M last night. Morrissey’s fans are not malicious. The fans were simply doing what they have been doing for almost 30 years. Trying anything they could do to jump onstage and touch him, or hug him,” Morrissey’s rep, Peter Katsis, said. “The fan in question was certainly more aggressive in reaching out for him than most, so security had to do their job and subdue the fan. That’s all it was. In the end, no one was hurt, and no one was arrested.”

Katsis also noted that the alleged attacker, who he names as Carlos Rodriguez, posted on the star’s Facebook statement to note that he is a fan that was caught up in the moment.

“Thank you for clearing this up. I admit it looks bad but the momentum to get up did look as if it was aggressive. I hugged him, Moz laughed and i was headlocked. End of story. I have nothing but love for El Jefe!,” Rodriguez wrote.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, police in the area had no record of any calls coming from the Symphony Hall Saturday night. British singer Morrissey, 59, is reportedly on a tour that’s made several stops in California and is next scheduled to hit Mexico City later this month.

You can view the videos below for yourself: