Phora’s Los Angeles Meet and Greet Ends in Injuries and a Stampede After Police Show Up

Phora is currently on the road for his Love Is Hell tour, which is set to continue Friday (Oct. 12) in Phoenix, Ariz., but before heading out, the California native wanted to show love to his hometown. However, an album release event taking place in Los Angeles Monday evening (Oct. 8) spun out of control, resulting in eight people being taken to local area hospitals and two others being evaluated at the scene.

As the freshly turned 24-year-old rapper recalled both on his social media pages and during a video interview with TMZ, the promo event was intended for him to celebrate his freshly released Love Is Hell mixtape and give away shirts and clothing items to fans who came out to support. However, over 6,000 people reportedly showed up, resulting in authorities getting involved and shutting down the event due to crowd safety concerns.

Once police were responding on the scene to help disperse the crowd, those in attendance began to run away, resulting in enough pushing and shoving for police to refer to the situation as a stampede. Due to the crowd’s size and shift in temperament, several people reportedly hyperventilated and passed out.

“It was a lot crazier than I had expected,” Phora shared with TMZ. “The first thing I thought was like, yo, I want to meet all these people. How am I going to meet every single one of these people right here? But, you know, it was just a crazy night, a lot of crazy things happened.”

The fast-rising rapper then refers to the event as an overall positive, highlighting how it felt good to give away as many shoes and clothing items as they did.

Phora then recalls how during the chaos, he ended up taking one of his fans to the hospital. “Most of the night was mostly love and respect,” he added.

The rhymer has since reassured his fans on social media that he made sure everyone in attendance was good to go. He also has issued a statement addressing Wendy Williams, after the TV host referred to the event as a "publicity stunt went terribly wrong."

Take a look at some of the footage from Phora’s meet-and-crowd in Los Angeles, and see his statement to Wendy Williams commenting on the matter, below.

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