A not so happy 'Welcome to Bangkok!'
Bjork is best known for perhaps being one of the most eccentric performers and artists of the 21st century. At the peak of her popularity in the 1990s, Bjork was on her way to her South Asia to tour her new album, ‘Post’, when she famously attacked a Thai reporter.
It was at the airport that she encountered a reporter Julie Kaufman, who had reportedly been following the artist and her young son around for several days at the time. Despite Bjork continuing to ignore the reporter throughout several days, the tension came to a halt as the mother and her nine-year-old son landed at Bangkok airport following a long flight. She had additionally asked that the press left her and her son alone until she had completed a press conference ahead of her tour, first.
In the video, a Thai TV reporter, Julie Kaufman, is heard shouting “Welcome to Bangkok!” before Bjork lunges towards her and punches her multiple times as she lies on the floor. In a later interview, Kaufman reports “All I said was ‘Welcome to Thailand’ and she just hit me, lost control and went crazy’.
As a side note, this was also around the time that Bjork’s stalker (Ricardo Lopez) had sent a bomb to her London home, so she was obviously on edge and protective of her and her son for the right reasons.
Kaufman also went on to shoot a hairspray commercial following the incident and is quoted as saying “I get battered by pop stars all the time, but I use this hairspray and it keeps my hair in place!”. I super badly wanted to find this advert, but came to no avail – so if anyone has a link, please let me know!
Bjork did apologise to the reporter a few days later, and luckily neither party pressed charges. Here’s what she had to say about the incident in an interview on TFI Friday.
This isn’t the Icelandic singers last attack, though, as she also ripped the shirt of a photographer after arriving at Auckland International Airport in the early morning in 2008. It is reported that she was with a ‘man’ (most likely a security guard) who asked the press to not take photos of her. Which perhaps heralds towards the true morality of paparazzi and music journalists.
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