Monica is receiving praise after she stopped her show in Detroit to defend a woman who was being attacked by a man in the audience.
In a video that surfaced online, it purports to show the Atlanta native performing at the Riverfront Music Festival Saturday evening when she abruptly hopped off of the stage to address a man assaulting a woman in the audience.
Fans began to erupt in applause as the Boy is Mine singer was followed by security guards as she walked through the crowd.
“You don’t hit no f*cking lady like that,” she exclaimed before the man was escorted out of the festival.
Following the incident, the 42-year-old mother of three got back on stage and apologized to the audience for stopping the performance.
“That shit triggered me,” Monica told fans. “I seen him punch that lady in the face, I lost my fuckin’ temper. I apologize ya’ll. I apologize from the bottom of my heart.”
She continued: “I was gonna knock [his] a*s out with this f*cking mic.”
After her performance, Monica took to social media to comment on the incident.
“I apologized there and I’m apologizing here for my actions but no one would take action!” she wrote in The Shade Room’s comment section. “I was so triggered, I watched and she didn’t appear to even know him!”
“It appeared to be about space during a packed concert! He punched her with all his strength! My intentions were to prevent her from being hit again and she wasn’t! I asked for help, it fell on deaf ears! It was like seeing my mother or an aunt be assaulted!! This woman was 50+ I pray she’s ok!”
Then in a statement to CBS News, a spokesperson at the festival applauded Monica for her actions.
“We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Monica for her courage and decisive intervention during an unfortunate incident at our Festival,” Andrus Macdonald said. “Her actions demonstrated a commitment to the safety and respect of her fans, reinforcing our belief that she is not just an extraordinary talent, but an extraordinary individual as well.”
He further added that the event organizers were “truly saddened that an event meant to bring joy and unity to our community was marred by an act of violence” and are working with police to hold the perpetrator accountable.
Believe it or not, this is the second time this year Monica has gotten in between a melee at a concert. In April, she told Washington, D.C. concertgoers who were arguing to “calm that sh*t down.”
