A video of a man trying to rush the stage toward Drew Barrymore during a special event at 92Y on Monday night went viral.
Barrymore was on hand to chat with Renée Rapp about her debut LP Snow Angel when the man, who identified himself as “Chad Michael Busto,” raised his voice to grab Barrymore’s attention.
“You know who I am,” he said. “I need to see you at some point while you’re in New York.”
But as he approached the stage, Rapp sprung into action and immediately helped to get Barrymore off the stage. Onsite security ushered the man away.
@vidsofceleb Scary moment, thankfully security took care of it. #drewbarrymore #reneerapp ♬ original sound – Edits
Barrymore and Rapp returned to the stage shortly after to continue their conversation.
The confrontation was brief and was quickly contained. And as the video spread online, many expressed sympathy toward Barrymore. Some compared it to fans recently rushing toward Taylor Swift at a New Jersey restaurant last weekend.
“I honestly have no words except this is scary beyond belief…” @iamedwinsmusic wrote.
“This makes me sad especially because Drew is so receptive and caring and it’s such a scary situation,” one person commented.
“Omg that’s so incredibly scary. I’m so glad they are both safe and wow Renee really was like “this is not going to be good” let’s go,” another wrote. “My heart 🥺💜”
Many praised Rapp for taking swift action in trying to protect Barrymore and get her off the stage as quickly as possible.
Once things settled down, Barrymore showered plenty of praise on Rapp.
“Well, I have a new definition of your sexiness, it’s that level of protectiveness,” Barrymore told Rapp afterward. “That went full Bodyguard. You are my Kevin Costner.”
