Diiverse Injured After Man Interrupted Toronto Performance, Threw Microphone At Her Face
Canada-based Dancehall artist Diiverse has been left in pain and with stitches to her left eye following an incident at a stage show at Chateau Le Jardin in Toronto, last Friday (April 21).
The show was headlined by rising star Valiant.
Diiverse was injured when an unidentified man, who is reportedly an upcoming artist, walked onstage during her performance, and grabbed the microphone from her, which he then flung at her face after she responded by nudging him. The incident, which was caught on HD video, has gone viral, sparking public debate on social media as the man involved in the incident remains at large.
Diiverse, whose given name is Lisa Pierre, told DancehallMag that she was invited onstage by fellow female Dancehall artist Kayydyan (formerly Double K) to be a part of her set and to perform their collaborative effort One Phone Call when the incident happened.
Kayydyan explained what she witnessed. “Mi give har the mic and this man walk out pon the stage. To be honest I thought he was a promoter or something to how him behave. Actually I never see exactly everything because as I handed her the mic I walked off.”
Diiverse added further insight.
“I was about to start the verse for the song and I felt this hand grabbed the microphone but I did not let go off it same time because I knew I was performing so how can someone take the mic out of my hand,” she said.
“He grabbed the mic and said something about him being tired of being styled or something like that. He walked over and talked to the crowd
and nudged me out the way. So it was a reflex from me because he pushed me out the way so I nudged him and he ended up losing his footing and was falling so he flung the mic right in my forehead. I think it was the fling of the mic that caused him to fall, it wasn’t me but it seemed like it was me.”
“He ran out same time cause my husband was there trying to defend me. Blood started running from my face like water,” Diiverse added.
“I was bleeding for a long time before I left the venue. The police did show up and asked if I needed an ambulance, but I told them no. I went to the hospital and got the stitches and they said ice and Tylenol for now,” she shared. “I am also having difficulty eating as my jaw is swollen.”
The show’s promoter Patrick Johnson, popularly known as Diamond Ice, apologized to Diiverse for the incident even as he admitted he does not know the man who assaulted her.
“We don’t know the person but we know he was asking prior to her for the microphone because he wanted his song to be heard somehow. He was even involved in some entanglement with the selector before trying to get the mic,” Diamond Ice told DancehallMag.
“After Kayydyan gave her the mic, it’s like he couldn’t wait so he took the mic from her and she just started her performance and was going good. He just
took the mic. It’s just an unfortunate situation because we spent so much money on security so we tried to have an incident free show. We have been trying to find the guy to hear his side of the story,” he added.
“ Why would he try to hurt a woman like that?” Diamond Ice questioned.