A Chinese TV crew has sparked anger in the UK after trying to order a British pianist and YouTuber who was livestreaming his performance at a shopping centre to delete his video as they didn't want their faces to be visible in the background.
Brendan Kavanaugh, who has racked up two million subscribers for his impromptu performances, was playing piano at a London shopping centre on Friday when the stand-off unfolded.
A group of Chinese nationals waving Chinese flags were standing behind Kavanaugh in the livestream, apparently enjoying the pianist's work before realising it was being filmed and approaching him.
They claimed he was not allowed to film them and demanded he delete the footage.
The group went back and forward debating whether he was allowed to film on the premise, while the livestream continued.
"We are very sensitive about this, we're really sorry but we love your music, we just don't want our voice, our picture being filmed. All of us cannot share images online, that's our right. It's a legal thing".
As Kavanaugh tells the group he is in public and allowed to film, one of the men in the group warns if he doesn't stop, he will take legal action, stating "I'm sorry this is the end of the conversation".
"We're in a free country, mate," Kavanaugh hits back. "You're not in communist China now, you know."
This didn't sit right with the man who then called him a racist and reiterated his message of wanting the video deleted.
Kavanaugh then touched one of the Chinese flags held by a woman in the group saying, "You've got the Chinese flag, show the Chinese flag" and attempted to move it into view of the camera.
The man in the group then exploded in a sudden outburst of anger.
"Why are you touching her? Stop touching her!" he screams at Kavanaugh, who looks taken aback. "Please, you are not the same age, please don't touch her," the man yells.
Soon police are called in to diffuse the situation, that is still being recorded.
One of the officers told the group that Kavanaugh was allowed to film in a public space, which they refused to accept.
Another officer then spoke to Kavanaugh and requested that he turn the camera off, which we would not do.
The officer then suggested he was "shouting communist comments at them".
To which he replied, "no I said they're waving a communist flag".
The officer and Kavanaugh argued for a while before she told him the group feel uncomfortable with their faces being broadcast to his channel and would prefer them taken down.
She also told him that his language was not appropriate and that he couldn't say things like "we're not in China", as it was offensive.
Clips on the incident have since gone viral on X with many surpassing millions of views.
People were shocked by it, in particular the officer's reaction, stating that he wasn't breaking the law and shouldn't have been treated as such.
"Stand in front of the cameras waving communist flags, create an enormous fuss about their image being used, argue the toss for minutes on end, complain to the police, make false allegations & then they're viewed by thousands online. That went well didn't it?" One person said on X.
"Is this real? They don't want to be filmed so they approach them to get closer? One of the people with them has a camera. Then they get hostile with the guy defending himself? Seems like a setup for the rest of us watching," another said.
