A$AP Rocky has apologised to the woman whose shoulder he used to propel himself over a barricade outside of a New York City hotel ahead of the Met Gala.
On Monday 1 May, the rapper sparked confusion among fans when he was filmed jumping over a barricade set up outside the entrance of the Carlyle Hotel, where fans had gathered to spot their favourite stars as they set out for the annual fashion event.
In the video, which has been viewed more than nine million times, Rocky, who was dressed in a black hoodie and black sunglasses, placed his hand on the shoulder of Madelyn Llanes, a 21 year old from Long Island, New York, for support as he leaped over the barricade.
The move startled Llanes, who looked up in confusion. However, Rocky then lowered his hood, prompting the crowd to scream excitedly in recognition of the star.
Following the incident, Llanes shared a photo of herself after she’d been knocked to the side by Rocky to Twitter, where she wrote: “A$AP Rocky just literally jumped over me.”
The tweet prompted a reply from the rapper himself, who used the opportunity to apologise for pushing past Llanes.
“LOL MY FAULT $WEETHEART,” he wrote, while also following the 21 year old on Twitter.
The online exchange was met with amusement from Rocky’s fans, with the replies flooding with laughing face emojis.
Speaking to The Independent after the encounter, Llanes said that she’d initially declined Rocky’s request to get through the crowd, as she noted there “wasn’t really anywhere to go”.
“I went to The Carlyle early in the day just so I’d be able to see everyone’s outfits up close as they’d head out. What happened with A$AP Rocky is that I had felt someone tapping my shoulder, so I turned around and saw that it was him but my brain didn’t fully comprehend that it was him,” she recalled.
“He said: ‘Sweetheart I need to get through’ and I just told him ‘no’ because the barricade was right in front of me, there wasn’t really anywhere to go.”
However, Llanes said Rocky didn’t take the no for an answer, as she continued: “He just pushed his way up and then hopped over and grabbed me and the guy next to me as he did. After he hopped over, he was like ‘thank you’ and then just laughed and flipped me off and then he went inside and that’s when I fully realised it was him.”
The rapper’s surprising entrance came hours before he arrived late on the red carpet of the 2023 Met Gala with his girlfriend Rihanna.
