Alien Ant Farm singer Dryden Mitchell has been charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly using a fan’s hand to touch his own crotch during a concert in Florida. The incident happened a couple months ago, but charges were just filed on December 30th.
According to The Daily Mail, Mitchell grabbed the hand of a 45-year-old male fan and placed it onto his crotch while performing their hit cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” in Fort Lauderdale on October 29th. In video posted to YouTube (watch below), it appears that the fan raised his hand in the air toward Mitchell, who then pulled it into his privates for a brief second before the fan pulled his hand away.
A police report obtained by Rolling Stone reads, “The lead singer of the Alien Ant Farm band, Dryden Mitchell, was on the stage in front of [victim] stated he had his fist in the air and was trying to get a picture with Mitchell. [Victim] advised that Mitchell grabbed his fist while it was in the air, and pulled the fist into his private area (genital area) against his pants. [Victim] stated he immediately pulled his hand away at that point.”
When reached by the Daily Mail, the fan stated, “I do want to tell my story but I do have to listen to my civil lawyers. I’ll be more than happy to speak later. I do want the story out there because what happened was not right.”
Alien Ant Farm are best known for their aforementioned 2001 cover of “Smooth Criminal.” The band’s most recent album, Always and Forever, came out in 2015.
See footage of the aforementioned incident in the video below (at the 2:50 mark).
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