SAN FRANCISCO APPEARANCE CANCELED, FANS GET TRAMPLED
KCBS San Francisco is reporting on today’s cancelled appearance. Here is what they have to say:
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — Police in San Francisco had to struggle to control a crowd of around 3,000 people who gathered at San Francisco’s Stonestown Galleria Monday morning for the chance to see an actor who is very popular among the teenage set.Police were forced to cancel the event, after the crowds grew out of control.
Teenagers, and their families had come from as far as Hawaii, Los Angeles and Arizona hoping to get a glimpse of Robert Pattinson, the 22-year-old British actor who played Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter movies. He now stars in “Twilight,” a vampire movie that is based on a very popular young adult book.
Around 200 to 500 people were expected to line up this morning to buy a wristband when the mall opened, that would allow them back inside the mall at 6 p.m. for a t-shirt signing at the Hot Topic store. Thousands showed up.
”After I got trampled I got back up there, but it was really scary cause I couldn’t breathe, because everyone kept pushing,” said fan Erica Martin.
One girl reportedly had her nose broken as a result of being crushed up against the front doors to the mall. Another girl fainted because she was unable to breathe while being pressed by the crowd.
The line to get into the front of the mall stretched all the way around the block.
They also have an audio of the news report.
(thanks kaly)
Perez Hilton also covered this story. Read his report HERE
Mercury News - coverage. Read it here
TMZ has video footage, click here (thanks tessingswoman)
Wow! I’m shocked and upset for the people who were hurt. Please be careful at these appearances. It’s obvious they weren’t prepared for the amount of people that showed up. I hope the negative publicity doesn’t hurt the movie How do you feel about what happened in San Francisco? Will it stop you from going to an appearance?
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I was at this event and it was a complete mess. I am so sorry for all of the people that got there at midnight and even earlier. Hot Topic should be ashamed of how this was handled. One security guard with a broken megaphone trying to wrangle 3,000 people? Not good. It did not need to be this way - people would have adhered to a line if a system was in place. Sadly - there was not organization at all. A real shame.
I was going to go after work. But this is crazy! I knew Twilight was taking over the world, but who knew this would happen. I’m very excited about the movie coming out!
I live in San Francisco, very close to that mall actually. What happened today is sad, scary and plain EMBARRASSING! I thought people were more civilized here! It was generally badly organized I guess, but I am floored at what teenage hormones can do. I mean, Rob is just a guy people, I gorgeous one, I give you that, but seriously?!!
If only, I hope this serves as experience for other events and for people to control their impulses. It is only leading to disappointment, and after all we don’t want to scare the actors away!
Scary!
I live in Denver. Our event is tomorrow. I was seriously considering taking my 12-year old daughter. I probably wasn’t going to be able to work out the details, though, because I didn’t want to sleep-over in some mall lot or get up at 3-4 am either. I also have to work so I can’t spend all day in line. I didn’t think the event was going to be as big a zoo as it would have been for Rob, but I still thought it would be crazy. I wonder if a day will give them enough time for HT to get their act together?
I don’t understand why there wasn’t any expectation of craziness. I was at Comic Con in July and it was crazy. Mexico, Rome, and N.Y. should have also given them a clue.
I also need to put some of this on the fans. However, security is needed because it only takes 1-2 people to start a frenzy.
Do you think we will get an official response by Hot Topic today regarding plans for future events?
So sorry about this happening…hopefully everybody is ok
I wonder if the next schedule cities are taking notes to be better prepared…
Rob most be feeling terrible
I feel so sorry about this.
Is time for us the fans to tone this down a little don’t you think, what can we do??
Okay…that’s crazy!!! And yes, in a BAD way. I can’t believe people got THAT out of control. I agree with TracyC, they should’ve had an organization system, that is nuts. This could’ve been handled a WHOLE lot better. OMG Rob Pattinson must be in shock!
That is really scary. I am going to the event in Chicago, I live in Minnesota so I am worried my trip will be wasted if this is the kind of fan base that’ll be there. I am sorry to everyone who got hurt, that was just out of control.
I WAS THERE!
it was all the mall and hot topic’s fault!
people were there waiting all night long. while in line i met a girl from hawaii! HAWAII! she came all that way 4 nothing! there were a couple thousand people there. and there was 1 security guard. with a little megaphone that didn’t even work. the police showed up hours later.
the news, fire department, police all came later. it was INSANE! people were gettin hurt, people were swearin! it was crazy!
at first we were all in the back of the parking lot waiting then a second later hundreds and hundreds of people start running to the doors of the mall. we were all squeezed together so much we couldn’t breath. a girl fainted i heard. it was crazy.
then the police were saying it was cancelled. no one left tho, we didn’t want to loose hope.
but it turns out it it true.
SO MANY ANGRY AND DISAPPOINTED PEOPLE!
I was at this event as well. At first they had us all sign our name on a list as we arrived so the first people who got there would be the first people in lines at the doors. I arrived at about 4 am and i was number 205. We all lined up along the grass of the property with our numbers untill some impataint fans started running for the door. Soon the number system was down the drain.
I was in the very front of the mosh pit right next to the door. I was very observant and almost positive a girl did not brake her nose against the door it was when she was running for the door.
Hot Topic should have handled this a million times better so i blame them. Canceling the even has broken many hearts and dreams and i believe it was the worst thing they could have done. Im hoping they will reschedule and have it more organized because people FLEW in for this. It was truley heartbreaking.
I feel sorry for ROB. He was probably scared out of his mind watching the news. I just hope he knows we love him and we just wanted to catch a glimse of his crooked smile for once in real life
omg this event was so unorganized im EXTREMELY PISSED @ the mall for being so unorganized in the first place…it’s ROBERT PATTINSON, WHAT DID THEY EXPECT?!?!
MY FRIENDS AND I ARRIVED @ MIDNIGHT AND MY FRIEND BROKE HER ANKLE AS WE WERE WAITING TO GET INTO THE MALLL…
wow that is crazy! i live in SF myself and considered stopping by after work. never mind to that eh.
I am still in line waiting for one of the t-shirts. I have been here since 8 am!
Jeez, what will it take for people to realize that Twilight is a BIG THING!!! i think it was mainly poor planning on the mall and police’s part. Didn’t they learn ANYTHING from Comic-Con?? This is only going to get bigger. People should realize now that if someone says the words “Rob” or “Edward” then give a location, more than just a few fans are going to show up!
Now, some of the blame does lie on the pushy people in line, but what makes me sad now, is that those few pushy people might give all Twilight fans a bad image. We are good people! there are other events that have nothing to do with Twilight, and have far less people that get violent too. I feel really sorry to the people who were in line, and came all that way for nothing. And I’m especially sorry for the people who got hurt. I’m quite embarassed by all this, and i hope that this doesnt have a negative impact on the movie.
Let this be a lesson to everyone: Twilight = BIG. Plan accordingly.
Seriously, Im actually nervous to go to the Boston event now, Im afraid of large crowds and alot of people, I knew there could be alot.. but seeing this… yeesh. I dont even think im gonna go now. I feel bad for Rob, and all the people who were acting accordingly and made plans to meet him, and the few that got hurt.
That is sooo crazy. This is what I was calling the FAN CRAZIES!!!! Some people are outta control…I wonder if that is how the movie premeire will be if its sold out?!?!?
Oh Snap!!! I hope everyone is okay and Hope that they reschedule. But they seriously thought that only 500 people show up for Rob? Seriously??? I was going to go to the event here in Philly but wont anymore (not because of this! but it doesnt make feel better). . . . I cant imagine any of this craziness at every single event. Or at least, I hope not.
I was there at 4:30am and did the whole number thing too! i am so disappointed with hot topic and the mall. they weren’t prepared at all! hot topic should have known better. apparently for the last week phones in the hot topic store had been ringing off the hook with fans asking about times and getting info. that should have tipped off hot topic that this is a BIG event! it was ridiculous. again im very disappointed.
Since I live in LA, I was going to try and show up to some of the events here and maybe the premiere- but after seeing this in SF- geez, forget it!
I think twilight is too out of control now. It would have been nice to see the actors, but I don’t want to be in the middle of a crazy mob!
Wow! Thats so scary. I blame the mall and hot topic. They should have realized the true fan base Twilight has. Those poor people. Imagine how the actors felt.
Holy crap. That’s freaking crazy! I seriously can’t believe Hot Topic actually thought that only 200-500 people would show up. After Comic-Con, Rome, Mexico, and NYC you’d think they’d be a little more aware of how popular Twilight, and Robert, have really become and would have planned a little more accordingly. I partially blame them for this whole fiasco.
A lot of the fans need to be blamed, too, though. The way some of them behaved was just unacceptable. I know Robert’s gorgeous and all, but seriously. I can’t reprimand people for wanting to see him, but not allowing an ambulance in to get to a girl who fainted (due to oxygen deprivation from how tightly closed in the mob was) is just ridiculous, and not to mention extremely dangerous. The out of control fans should be ashamed of themselves.
And poor Robert. I can only imagine what he must’ve been thinking after hearing about this. I’d be scared out of my mind if I were him.
This, also, makes me nervous for the event in Arizona on Wednesday. I know that’s not an event that Robert’s going to be at, but I’m still nervous about what’s going to happen. A friend and I are going at 5am, so hopefully it won’t be too crazy or anything… I’m going to call Hot Topic tomorrow and see what they say about it because there is no way in hell I’m going if it’s going to turn out like this one did.
I am so angry that they went ahead with the SF signing. They turned away so many people this morning under the impression that they weren’t having the event at all and then they proceeded with it anyway! I called the store myself and the associate said that there was absolutely no way they would be having it today or rescheduling it.
Just because they didn’t make they correct efforts to deal with the crowd that I know they knew was going to be there, doesn’t make it ok to lie to everyone. I spoke with them on Friday as well and the associate said even then that they were expecting a large amount of people from out of state. I can’t imagine letting everyone down like they did.
WOW….my bestie was in there! i ALSO saw her in thee news.she was all laughing.
i was one of the people who was waiting in line early in the morning for the rob pattinson appearance. The cops and the lady in charge of the event told us that the event was cancelled and they would post on the website if the event was to be rescheduled. the lady exclaimed, “for the love of twilight please leave”, implying that if we stayed, we did not love twilight. I was devastated when i found out that the event was back on the same day like 4 hours later. hot topic should be ashamed of themselves for lying and tricking teenage girls. it’s not our fault that they didn’t expect more than 500 people. i’m not bitter that i didn’t get in, it’s just wrong to do that to people.
anyone who agrees should join our facebook group that is boycotting hot topic. it’s called hot topic can suck my juice box.
I was at the event in SF this morning and it was a disaster! I arrived around 5:30am and hundreds of people were already there waiting. They had created an UNOFFICIAL list dictating each person’s position in line in order to secure their spot. What these people failed to understand was that the OFFICIAL line (stated by HOT TOPIC) started at 7:00am in front of the mall. I don’t care that these people got to the mall at 10pm on Sunday night - if they wanted to be within the first 500, they needed to worry about how fast they could run instead of creating a stupid list.
Around 6:00am while people argued about the stupid list, others started creeping closer and closer to the mall entrance, and all of a sudden EVERYONE sprinted to the entrance as fast as they could. I was about 20th in line. It was then that more of the chaos started. The people in the front of the line (including me) were so squished together that if one person moved, so did everyone around them. It was like being part of a wave in the ocean. And the security guards kept yelling at US to move back! Well guess what…we couldn’t! The people in the back would push forward every time we tried to step back and we would just become more squished together than before. I tried to squeeze my way through to talk to one of the security guards but I COULDN’T…not “didn’t” but literally COULD NOT. But the stupid security/police didn’t know what the hell they were doing and were completely disorganized and unprepared for this event. They just kept being idiots and yelling at the front people to move back when they couldn’t.
It was completely ridiculous. Here’s the worst part though: around 7:30am the police started announcing that the event was canceled. Some people left, but most stayed thinking that the police were lying. Then a Hot Topic volunteer who was in charge announced HERSELF that is was canceled. At this point I went and talked to her and specifically asked her if it was a complete NO or if it was gonna be a “just kidding! it’s still on!” type of thing. She undoubtedly assured me that there was no way in hell the event was going to take place. I, like an idiot, believed her and went home (I live an hour away in Concord.) My mom woke me up at 4pm and said that Rob announced on TV that the event was still gonna happen. I was absolutely furious! I called Hot Topic and they denied it. So my mom and I drove to SF and there was a line of people with wrist bands waiting outside to go get autographs from Rob. I confronted the woman I had talked to earlier in the day she said they just changed their mind and that I should have just stayed like the other people did. Gee, thanks. So I got to see a glimpse of Rob just as he was leaving and that’s it. I feel so angry and cheated right now. I feel so bad for all the girls who were in my position and didn’t get to meet Rob when they were the ones who rightfully deserved it. The part that makes me the most angry was that if everything had gone how it was supposed to, I would have met Rob tonight no question. I’m gonna file a complaint to Hot Topic, so if anyone would like to join me, email me at gabriellebecerra@gmail.com
DON’T SHOP AT HOT TOPIC ANYMORE! THEY’RE GREEDY UNFAIR LIARS!
Personally, I think the fans themselves should be ashamed and even more, I mean, when I was a mother attending. What am I teaching my kid, yeah, it’s ok to trample and get hysteric when something doesn’t go the way you want. I mean, other people just have to get out of your way, right?
I’ve only recently read the Twilight books and this is enough to turn me off completely.
Before you say, you have never been in a situation/mobs like these. Yes, I yearly go to comic/fantasy cons. No, I must admit mobs never got out of control like this. Yes, and I have had to wait too.. for a long time. But yes, if it’s taking to long, I have something like, walk away, breath in the fresh air, look at flowers, the world itself is amazingly enough and I think it’s worth into a rage for like one fictional character.
Most say ‘people don’t realize how hot Twilight is’.. because ehrm.. there are those that don’t know it, ok? So could be those people of Hot Topic never heard of it. Heck.. I work in a library and I just read them. (Mind you, I live in Europe.) Yes, it’s bad preparation on their part.. but you know, fans could have acted otherwise too.
Seriously, the Twilight fandom is scaring the heck out of me right now. Poor actors..
(P.S. I travelled to Paris last week for a show that got cancelled.. yeah.. that wasn’t fun.. but we went to see other great (museum) stuff instead. ^^ Odd.)
I was at the Seattle event yesterday and it was handled pretty good. The only bummer was waiting for almost 1 1/2 afterwards to hear the actors talk for 10 minutes! Those in the middle to back couldn’t see them. Thank you Edi Gathegi (Laurent) for standing up when you spoke so we could see you. Of course the girls wanted Taylor (Jacob) to stand up and he finally did at the end. Also, Taylor wasn’t on ANY of the promotional material that he signed or the t-shirt. that kind of stunk. But overall, it was cool.