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» Babymetal shows maturity as rude U.K. award presenter repeatedly interrupts speech 【Video】

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Babymetal shows maturity as rude U.K. award presenter repeatedly interrupts speech 【Video】

Casey Baseel Jun 13, 2016
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BM 5

When a teenage girl from a band with “baby” in its name does a better job of acting like an adult than you do, you might want to work on your manners.

Japanese musical trio Babymetal is in the middle of a world tour, and while in London the band attended the Kerrang! Awards, sponsored by the U.K.’s Karrang! music magazine. This wasn’t their first time to be there, either. In 2015, Babymetal took home the organization’s Spirit of Independence Award, and this time they followed up on that success by winning Kerrang’s title of Best Live Band of 2016.

The announcement was a happy moment for the group and its fans. The crowd applauded enthusiastically, and the three teen musicians made their way to the front of the amphitheater to be officially given the award by presenter Benji Webbe, singer for Welsh metal/rock/reggae band Skindred.

Things got weird once on stage, though, as shown in the video below. 18-year-old Suzuka Nakamoto, Babymetal’s oldest member who’s also known as Su-Metal, begins an acceptance speech in accented but understandable English, starting with “I can’t believe we’re here at Kerrang! Award [sic] again,” at which point the 49-year-old Webbe interrupted by repeating “Again” into his mike.

▼ Nakamoto’s acceptance speech starts at 0:55.

Despite the fact that she was addressing the audience, Nakamoto turns to Webbe and says, “Thank you,” to which he baffling responds “Again.”

▼ Umm, no one’s talking to you, Benji.

Still trying to be polite, Nakamoto once more turns to Webbe and says “Yes,” giving him the benefit of the doubt that he’s not being a jerk, but simply hasn’t understood her. Webbe clearly needs more attention, tough, because rather than letting the performers who just won the award he’s presenting talk, he continues jabbering over Nakamoto’s speech, and adds in a few curt bows that are so half-hearted they’re hard to see as anything other than a mockery of the traditional Japanese show of respect.

▼ Benji, no one’s asking you to bow either, especially if you can’t be bothered to take your hand out of your pocket.

The audience has obviously had enough, as its startled silence quickly turns to jeers. Webbe’s hearing doesn’t appear to be any better than his sense of “comedy,” though, and he keeps going. Nakamoto visibly realizes there’s no way Webbe is going to pipe down and tries to wrap things up, simply saying “Thank you to everyone,” which Webbe takes as his cue to say “Arigato.”

▼ Speak Japanese: yet another thing no one is asking you to do, Benji.

Finally, after shouting what sounds like “You fucker!” in a fake Japanese accent, Benji finally quiets down and the audience gets to hear the rest of what Nakamoto has to say.

Considering how unassuming Babymetal’s members are when interacting with fans and the media, quite a few of the band’s supporters took issue with Webbe’s actions, which boil down to picking a fight with a group of teenage girls. In response, Webbe sent the following tweet.

Sorry to anyone who thought I disrespect baby metal at the awards tonight, truly I didn't mean to fuck with them

— Benji Webbe (@Benjiwebbe) June 10, 2016

Unfortunately for Webbe, most people are bright enough to realize that it’s hard to find a better example of “fucking with someone” than his caught-on-video antics.

Interrupt her 7 times in a row - Didn't mean to fuck with them? Choose one. Don't try to justify your bullshit now.

— Eliteleader (@Eliteleader) June 10, 2016

you've pretty much upset the entire fanbase, they're so polite to see that done to them even in jest was really disappointing

— テリー🍜 (@ramenshuriken) June 10, 2016

https://twitter.com/slashduel/status/741085877980532736

More than a few people also pointed out that even his half-baked apology was directed to the wrong people.

Don't apologize to us, apologize to the band

— Shawn (@aboynamedeath) June 10, 2016

Granted, Internet etiquette is a young, and still evolving, thing, but yeah, it seems like common sense that if you want to apologize to Babymetal through Twitter, it’s pretty easy to do directly, seeing as how the band has an official Twitter account.

▼ Which, incidentally, is followed by more than 20 times as many people as Webbe’s.

Speaking of the Babymetal Twitter account, the band has made no comment there about the incident, as it’s too busy thanking everyone who was part of the massive turnout for its performance in Paris.