This is my birth mom, Ari, and I.
Kelly Prososki
She and I have a tradition of going to every Fall Out Boy tour since Wintour in 2016. That means four shows in two years. So when we heard that they were extending the Mania Tour for a second USA leg, we had to go. We were fortunate and blessed enough to be able to afford VIP tickets.
She and I are both HUGE Fall Out Boy fans, so much so that we got matching Fall Out Boy tattoos.
Kelly Prososki
We were both so excited to live it up VIP style on September 9th. We were promised exclusive merch, food, drinks, and admittance into the venue early, all of which we received. Afterward, we went to our seats.
Kelly Prososki
Row K, seats 10 and 11. They were AMAZING seats and the closest either of us has ever been to the stage at a concert. I mean, I could see every detail of Machine Gun Kelly's face and tattoos. It was exhilarating. And then this guy happened.
Kelly Prososki
He was really nice! He was talking with us about the similarities MGK had to Eminem and other stars from the 90s. We were dancing and bobbing our heads, then Ari went completely still next to me and grabbed my arm.
"What's wrong?" I asked, stilling moving to the music.
"He just grabbed my ass."
Time stopped as I looked at the man who then took three huge swigs of his third beer.
"Do you want me to kick his ass?"
"No, I shoved him off pretty hard, I'm sure he won't do it again."
The concert continued. MGK was messing around on stage, Ari and I were laughing about God knows what, and we were just enjoying our time together. Arielle stopped moving again.
"He grabbed me again."
I looked over at him and yet again he was chugging his beer, finishing it off. I looked at her and asked her if she was okay, she nodded. The man looked at me and smiled. My stomach churned.
MGK's set ended and Arielle and I ran to the bathrooms and to get more drinks - someone had knocked over my water before I had the chance to drink it. He joined the line for drinks and bought two more beers. He got real close to a young woman who was there alone, who walked away before he could do anything to her.
We made friends with the people around us, talking about nursing school and bad boyfriends. Arielle got her beer, I got my water, and we went back to our seats.
Previously, the three seats next to me were empty. When we returned, all three were filled. The two closest to me had two suburban white moms. They were some of the nicest women I have ever met. Next to them, the man was there.
Arielle and I warned the women about the man. They thanked us. Finally, it was showtime.
Arielle and I were having the time of our life, dancing and jumping around, screaming the words to all the songs, laughing our assess off at one another. The man then squeezed past us to get his sixth beer.
When he returned, he moved his way into the row in front of us, in the middle of a group of about 6 women. Arielle called the closest security guard over and told him about what was going on. He told us that he needed to see it happen before he could do anything about it.
I watched the man as he assaulted six more women. Those women left in tears not even halfway through the set. He then grabbed the women in the next row up from him. I looked over at the security guard.
Kelly Prososki
He was on his phone.
Ari called for the head of security. A man named TR asked her to come to him because he was watching the front of the stage to make sure that no one was taking any jumps at the boys. She explained everything that was happening to him, even pointing out the girls who were walking away in tears.
He apologized for what happened to Arielle and offered to give us front row seats for the rest of the show to make up for what happened. He never offered to kick the man out. We moved up and they moved the man into his actual seat, right next to an 8-year-old girl. Arielle warned the girl's dad.
At the end of the concert, TR handed me a setlist from the stage and smiled at me, telling me that he hoped I had a great night.
Sure.
We left the venue and walked out to the car, being hypervigilant to the area around us. We got to the car, and I sent out this tweet:
Kelly Prososki
Which got this response the next day:
Kelly Prososki
I sent them my email. I got this the next day:
Kelly Prososki
And so I called. I say exactly what I said previously in this article. She apologized for the bad experience and told me she would "deal with" the security guard that was on his phone and offered Arielle and me two free tickets to another show of our choosing.
Kelly Prososki
Kelly Prososki
So that's the solution you want to give us for this whole situation? We didn't want anything out of this in terms of tickets or apologies. We don't want attention from Fall Out Boy, we don't want media attention, or for anything in terms of monetary or personal gain.
We never want this to happen to anyone ever again.
We talk like sexual assault like it never happens, but 20 women were affected that night and nothing was done. Nothing.
Shame on you, Nationwide Arena, shame on you.
It's good to know that you guys support sexual predators.
