Yesterday (4th July), 20-year-old American singer-songwriter Maggie Lindemann took to her Instagram page to share a statement with her fans who attended her recent show at The Bee, Publika in Kuala Lumpur earlier last month.
In the shocking post, Lindemann, famous for her songs ‘Pretty Girl‘ and ‘Obsessed‘, claimed that she was allegedly arrested halfway through her performance. An excerpt from her post reads,
“For reasons I can’t go into right now, I was detained and arrested mid-way through my set and spent the next 5 days confined in a living hell. I’m also so sorry to the fans in Asia that paid for tickets to come see me.”
Due to her arrest, Lindemann could not continue with her Asia tour.
Malaysia was reportedly the first stop of her Asia tour, followed by Vietnam and Singapore.
In a statement, the Malaysian Immigration Department confirmed Lindemann’s arrest. The department’s director Hamidi Adam was quoted by The Star as saying,
“She was arrested for not having a professional visit pass at the time of the performance. She was then detained at Jalan Duta (Immigration KL office) for documentation purposes and was released with bail the next day.”
The permit agent involved in the show was reportedly found guilty and court and fined RM30,000.
WORLD OF BUZZ reached out to representatives of The Bee, who have released a press statement confirming that the singer was arrested and detained for one night before being released 24 hours later. An excerpt from their statement reads,
“We understand that the organisers of the show worked around the clock and did everything in their power to get her and her crew released and placed in a safe and comfortable environment pending their hearing date upon which she was returned home to the US.”
“We understand that the incident occurred as a mismanagement in applications via the organising permit agent, who has also misinformed the organisers that the show was approved by the relevant authorities, and permitted to go on.”
“The Agent was subsequently charged, found guilty for his negligence and had to pay a fine for his actions.”
“The Bee, as a venue, was not responsible for the arrest and does not condone any foreign acts to proceed to perform when there are such irregularities. We are deeply sorry that this unfortunate incident happened to Maggie and we hope to welcome her to The Bee again.”
The Bee ended their statement, assuring the public that they would be more diligent with vetting all documentation of all organisers before shows are allowed to proceed.
What do you think of this situation? Let us know in the comments section.