After more than 300 boisterous fans invaded a mall and paramedics were called to assist consumers who were falling, police have shut down a meet-and-greet for OnlyFans and TikTok phenomenon Anna Paul.
On Sunday, hundreds of teens flocked to the pop-up in Perth’s central business district to get a glimpse of the 23-year-old influencer, who has been compared to Australia’s Kim Kardashian while touring the nation.
Social media videos show throngs of admirers crammed close together outside the Stax shop, an athletic retailer Paul has promoted, on Hay Street, yelling “Anna!” as they wait to see the celebrity.
However, as “tensions” developed because some participants allegedly “jumped the line” and a sizable throng gathered at the site, WA Police were compelled to step in.
According to WA Police, officers were called to a clothes shop in Hay Street Mall at the request of management because 200 to 300 individuals were expected to attend an event that had been advertised on social media.
There was a much higher attendance than anticipated. Allegations of “queue jumping” caused tensions among certain sections of the audience to rise.
A number of individuals fainted and needed medical attention, so police called St. John Ambulance.
Originally scheduled to last from 12 to 4, the event was abruptly called off, with police removing spectators from the area.
After speaking with the store’s management, WA Police said that the event had been postponed “due to the size of the gathering,” “lack of suitable security,” and “inadequacy of capabilities” to handle the higher-than-expected numbers.
Just after noon, Paul made a post on Instagram claiming that police had instructed event organisers to cancel the event due to crowd control issues.
The Perth meet and greet had to be cancelled early due to safety concerns, she wrote.
It turned into a major safety problem… I appreciate your amazingness. I’m so sorry; we did our absolute best to cooperate with the cops, but it just became too much.
The Queenslander, who has seven million followers on Instagram and TikTok combined, spent the previous week travelling across Sydney and Melbourne and mixing with devoted fans.
Both occasions saw similar scenes as adoring admirers went to visit her and brought presents like flowers, notes, posters, and clothes.
Her last destination was the meet-and-greet in Perth, where she was scheduled to promote her latest project with Stax and provide products from her collection that are often unavailable to customers in Western Australia.
After being told to go home, disgruntled fans raced to social media to lament the “unorganised” scenario. According to some reports, lines had formed as early as 6am.
‘So s. Someone wrote, “I’m**t, truly disappointed.
“I was there, and I’m so furious!” additional added
Another stated, “I felt like sobbing.”
Before transitioning into a profitable job uploading material on the subscription-based website Only Fans, where she is one of the biggest earners, Paul began as a lip-sync performer on TikTok.
Her net worth, which includes her opulent waterfront property on the Gold Coast, was estimated to be between $6 million and $7 million as of April.