A disappointed Lady Gaga fan has apologised and insisted she is “not a bad person” after he was filmed ranting at theatre staff because his heroine did not appear in film trailers.
Ethan Silver, 30, visited his local IFC Center theater in New York City hoping to see the latest promotional film for Joker 2, starring Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix.
But he lost his cool when he failed to show up and his request for a refund was denied, swearing at the ticket office staff and threatening to call the police.
An unobtrusive bystander was filming the exchange, and Silver was horrified to see her behavior go viral when it was posted on fan site Gagadaily.com.
“I feel very ashamed and I am very sorry for all the trouble I caused and I really hate that all this is circulating on the internet,” he told DailyMail.com. “I would like to make it clear that I am not a bad person.”
Lady Gaga fan Ethan Silver yelled at box office staff after watching a trailer that didn’t include his heroine’s appearance in the promotion for Joker 2.
The 30-year-old has said he feels ashamed of his behaviour and would like to apologise.
Excitement for ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ has been building since the first trailer racked up 167 million views in its first 24 hours after its release in April, a record for a Warner Bros. film.
The latest trailer, released last week, shows hero Arthur Fleck hugging Harley Quinn, played by Gaga, and has already attracted 23 million views on YouTube.
Silver says he’s not a fan of the movies, but wanted to see the trailer in a theater to “support Lady Gaga.”
He went to the Sixth Avenue Theater and asked for a ticket to “any movie,” hoping to see the trailer.
But the independent theatre, which specialises in classic, independent and foreign language films, did not have it in its programme.
“I saw tons of trailers for meaningless movies that nobody cares about, and it was annoying,” Silver said.
‘I thought I was entitled to my money back and I asked very politely at the ticket booth and then some random guy was filming me on the street.’
The aspiring YouTuber found himself on the other side of the lens when he lost his temper with box office staff who didn’t comply.
“If you don’t give me my money back, I swear to God,” he shouted.
“There are 30-minute trailers. I wanted the Joker, I wanted to see Lady Gaga in the Joker trailer.
“Give me a fuck… I’ll call the police.”
Lady Gaga stars as Harley Quinn alongside Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, aka Arthur Fleck.
The long-awaited trailer has already attracted 23 million views on YouTube.
Some movie fans were sympathetic to her plight as images began to circulate on the Internet.
“To be fair, I was furious when mine didn’t play the new trailer and instead played the teaser,” one wrote.
‘Bros has his priorities straight,’ another added.
“Let me guess, they showed the Nicole Kidman trailer again, huh?” joked a third.
But others were less forgiving and Silver says he has been hurt by the backlash.
“Lady Gaga says never to read bad things people say about you, but people are saying horrible things about me,” he said.
They say I’m crazy, I’m not crazy, everyone loves me.
“It wasn’t me. I apologize to the IFC person.”
Some fans were furious when it was revealed that the sequel to 2019’s Joker would be a musical, but others were thrilled at the prospect of seeing the Poker Face singer join Phoenix for some musical numbers.
She plays a fellow inmate at an asylum who strikes up a deadly romantic relationship with the Joker, and casting director Francine Maisler promises an audience of film fans that she will “blow them away.”
As their mutual infatuation deepens, Arthur’s deranged followers (who witnessed him murder late-night television host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) in the first film) take to the streets in hopes of allowing him to subject Gotham to even more destruction.
“I will tell you that (Gaga) is really amazing and really good,” Maisler said at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic last month.
‘I mean, we all knew what she could do in A Star Is Born, but I thought, ‘Oh, well, that’s something she could do and just be real. ‘
Casting director Francine Maisler promised movie fans that Gaga will “blow their minds”
It will premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, before going into general release in the United States on October 2.
“But this… God, she’s good. Joaquin blows your mind, but the fact that she could keep up with him and be real, and not just erased from the screen by the role and the performance, proves that she’s good.”
Silver says he hasn’t even seen the first Joker film, which grossed $1.079 billion against a relatively modest $55 million budget.
Its sequel will premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, before going into general release in the United States on October 2.
Silver will be one of his first spectators and he is sure that his heroine will not reproach him for his loss of temper.
“I think one day we’ll meet and laugh about it,” he said.