Security guard at center of Chappell Roan controversy breaks silence
Security guard Pascal Duvier, most recently infamous for allegedly scolding 11-year-old Ada Law at a hotel in São Paulo, is clearing the air.
Duvier issued a statement on Instagram on Wednesday night following four days of back-and-forth social media claims from soccer star Jorginho, his wife, Catherine Harding (singer-songwriter Cat Cavelli), and pop star Chappell Roan, who denied involvement in an incident that left Ada (the biological daughter of Jude Law and Harding) in tears ahead of her birthday celebration.
As a result of the controversy, speculation around Roan’s treatment of her fans has flooded social media for days. The “Hot to Go!” hitmaker has been vocal in the past about setting boundaries with fans and paparazzi, as well as her complicated relationship with fame.
Duvier, who insists he was not working for Roan at the time of the incident, began his statement saying that he does not normally address online rumors, “but the accusations currently circulating are false and constitute defamation.”
“I take full responsibility for the interactions on March 21st,” he wrote. “I was at the hotel on behalf of another individual, and I was not part of the personal security team of Chappell Roan.
“The actions I took were not on behalf of Chappell Roan, her personal security team, her management, or any other individuals. I made a judgment call based on information we obtained from the hotel, events I had witnessed in the days prior and the heightened overall security risk of our location. My sole interaction with the mother was calm and with good intentions, and the outcome of the encounter is regretful.”
Roan headlined Lollapalooza Brazil over the weekend, and Jorginho was in attendance along with his wife and stepchild. While there, the footballer said the 11-year-old (whom he did not name) thought she spotted the pop star at their São Paulo hotel.
The girl passed by Roan’s table “to confirm it was her, smiled, and went back to sit with her mum. She didn’t say anything, didn’t ask for anything,” he wrote.
Jorginho alleged that, after the girl sat down, a “large security guard” interrupted their breakfast to scold them. The guard allegedly told Harding “she shouldn’t allow [her] daughter to ‘disrespect’ or ‘harass’ other people.”
The girl was “extremely shaken and cried a lot,” said Jorginho, a player for the Brazilian club Flamengo whose legal name is Jorge Luiz Frello Filho.
On Sunday, Roan responded on Instagram, seemingly baffled by the swirling controversy. She insisted the guard was not her personal security and that no one had approached her.
“I did not ask the security guard to go up and talk to this mother and child. … They did not come up to me. They weren’t doing anything.
“I do not hate people who are fans of my music. I do not hate children.”
Three days ago Harding also responded to the brouhaha, posting her own video on Instagram in an attempt to bring some clarity following Roan’s statement. “So 100% this security guard was not a security guard of the hotel, that’s what I can say,” she said. “He looks after artists.
“So I don’t know if it was her personal security guard, but he was with her. So that is all I know. Did she send him to do it? Again, I don’t know.”
Duvier, a “protection specialist” and martial artist, according to his Instagram bio, worked for Kim Kardashian in 2016.
Times Deputy Editor Amy Hubbard contributed to this report.
