The piano at London’s St. Pancras station has been closed off and guarded after a clash between a pianist and Chinese tourists.
Brendan Kavanagh, also known as Dr. K, sparked a row after he shared a video showing the moment the Chinese tourists told him to stop filming.
The musician was then accused of touching one of the women – an accusation he strongly denies – and even two officers from the British Transport Police got involved, who told Mr Kavanagh not to upload the clip to YouTube.
Now St Pancras station has ‘cordoned off the piano and placed two guards on either side’, the pianist revealed today after the confrontation went viral on Friday, January 19.
He said in a video: ‘The piano is now cordoned off and there are two security guards standing by. You can’t make this up.’
The piano was donated to the station by legendary musician Sir Elton John
Brendan Kavanagh plays boogie woogie songs on the piano at London’s St Pancras station
The piano, which was donated to the station by legendary musician Sir Elton John and bears his signature, has been closed “due to maintenance work taking place”, a station spokesperson told the station. Daily Express.
Last night Kavanagh denounced the police intervention in a TalkTV interview and criticized the Chinese group’s “ridiculous” demands.
However, one of the women involved today accused Dr. K of provoking them by calling them Japanese instead of Chinese, playing a ‘discriminatory’ song and constantly telling them ‘we live in Britain, not China’.
The woman also claimed that they had been waiting to play the piano themselves for a Chinese New Year greetings video they planned to film at the station.
She claimed the group asked Dr K to stop filming after realizing he was livestreaming, adding: ‘We were left waiting for over 40 minutes. He played the piano for a long time.
“When I approached him, his assistant kept filming and then I realized he was probably a content creator filming videos. But I didn’t know at the time that he was livestreaming.
“So I asked if he could take down his video because our content is not allowed to be made public today. It cannot be made public in advance. He kept asking me questions and I really didn’t know how to respond.”
Police officers later approached Dr. K and warned him not to post the video to his YouTube channel. But Kavanagh interrupted him and said, “Listen, wWe’re in Britain, we’re in a public space, it’s a free country.’
The woman (pictured) said she worked for Chinese TV and asked him to stop filming their group
One of the two police officers told the pianist: “This shouldn’t be on your channel,” as Mr Kavanagh continued filming after the officers intervened.
The other officer told the Chinese tourist who had shouted at Mr Kavanagh that he had the right to film because he was in a public place.
“I was so happy that I actually had it filmed because if I told them this, people wouldn’t believe me, but the fact that it was on a live stream… It was completely spontaneous and now the world has seen it,” he added to it.
Before officers arrived, the situation escalated when the group politely asked him to stop filming, amid loud demands as Mr Kavanagh was accused of ‘touching’ one of the female tourists after apparently pointing at the Chinese flag flying she held. He denied the accusation.
They insisted they enjoyed his music but would “take legal action against it” because they had entered into an agreement with others not to be featured online, claiming they were “protecting our own image right.”
He replies that they should just “walk away” if they don’t want to be in front of the camera.
A male member of the group, who was the most vocal in his complaints against the filming, suddenly started shouting, ‘Why are you touching her? Don’t touch her again. Do not touch her.’
Mr Kavanagh had touched the lady’s pennant as he looked to illustrate that she was holding a Chinese flag.
He added: ‘You’re not the same age, don’t touch her.’ The woman intervened and said, “Don’t shoot him, don’t shoot him. What’s the problem?’
Dr. K said to the group: ‘We are in Britain, we are not in China’
Mr Kavanagh on TalkTV last night
Mr. Kavanagh, also known as Dr. K, was apparently confused after being shouted at and defended himself by saying he had only touched the flag.
The pianist repeatedly pointed to the small red flags with five yellow stars, which he claimed were communist flags.
One of the tourists said Mr Kavanagh needed to ‘educate’ himself as the flag is not a Communist Party flag – which would depict a yellow hammer and sickle instead of the five stars.
The woman who allegedly touched the pianist – something he denies – said she was “here to celebrate the New Year” and did not want to be filmed.
The pair repeatedly accused Mr Kavanagh of ‘disrespecting their right’ by filming them, but the pianist again pointed out that he is allowed to film them because there is no expectation of privacy in a public place in Britain.
As the police officers approached, a tourist told the male officer that Mr Kavanagh had filmed them and they asked him to delete the footage, but he refused.
“You’re in a public place,” the police officer explained repeatedly – until the female officer intervened and told the cameraman, “Excuse me, if we have a police case, you need to put that phone down.”
Mr Kavanagh then addressed his viewers as officers took the tourists aside.
He said, ‘TThe Chinese Communist Party said we weren’t allowed to film here.”
Afterwards, the policewoman warned him: ‘This is not allowed on your channel, this is me talking to you.’ But Mr. Kavanagh interrupted and said, “Listen, wWe’re in Britain, we’re in a public space, it’s a free country.’
The officer added: “The point is they are saying you made communist comments to them,” but Mr Kavanagh denied this, adding he only said they were waving communist flags.
One of the two police officers (pictured behind the pianist), who were walking past and stopped because of the loud argument, told the pianist ‘this shouldn’t appear on your channel’ as Mr Kavanagh continued filming after the officers intervened.
She also asked him about the accusation that he tried to touch one of the tourists, which the pianist denied. He said: ‘I tried not to touch her, that’s why I have a camera.’
“They (the tourists) have requested that the video of them approaching be deleted and not used on your channel (…) They work for a company and their faces cannot be shown on TV or on anyone’s channel,” she told Mr Kavanagh.
Eventually, the tourists and police officers moved one, allowing Mr. Kavanagh to end his livestream with more boogie-woogie songs after declaring, “Freedom of speech takes precedence.”
Mr Kavanagh said on TalkTV last night that when interacting with the tourists it was ‘all about what I couldn’t do and what they could do’.
A British Transport Police spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of a video circulating on social media of a dispute at St Pancras train station on Friday 19 January. Officers on patrol noticed the incident and the situation was de-escalated.”