Lia Marie Johnson’s has confirmed that police arrived and “detained” her on January 2, after her producer “hijacked” her Instagram live broadcast.
Johnson is best known from her time on the Fine Bros. REACT series and has since grown her own fanbase on YouTube and social media.
In a previous livestream on December 24, Johnson was emotional and caused some fans distress. Despite concerns, she reassured viewers that she wasn’t on drugs, but that her behavior stemmed from her “interesting mindset”.
She then went quiet over the holiday period, reemerging after the new year for a livestream on January 2, but it did little to quell fans’ concerns as the stream ended abruptly at the hands of her producer.
Johnson, clearly intoxicated, can be seen kissing the man just out of frame at around 15 minutes into the livestream, as music plays loudly and thousands of viewers watch on.
Moments later, the man, believed to be photographer/producer Steven Wetherbee, can be heard asking: “Are you on Instagram? No you’re not – you can’t be on Instagram. Are you really on Instagram? Because that would be bad.”
As Lia doesn’t respond, the man asks again: “Were you on Instagram? Lia? Were you on Instagram?” Lia then responds “no,” to which he asks: “Then what is this? Tell me the truth. What is this?”
The producer then takes the phone and turns off the stream himself, explaining: “Now we’re going back to us. I’m hijacking your phone.”
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After going live again, the man can be heard whispering: “Lia, I need this not to go out, because it will affect my work, please, turn it off.”
“Lia I need this to not go out because it will effect my work” this is chilling. Lia Marie Johnson is in serious danger… pic.twitter.com/ark150mrTK
— T (@t_stockk) January 2, 2020
It is believed that a viewer or multiple viewers called police to attend the residence, with Johnson stating on stream “f**k all of you, do not send the f**king police to my f**king address.”
Later on January 2, Johnson went live once again, and explained the situation further. “The cops showed up, and detained me, put cuffs on my hands. […] There’s no reason to worry, I’m OK. I just want to be left alone.”
https://twitter.com/radioheadsng/status/1212705516872318979
Johnson ended the stream by thanking people for support and help, but said she would be “f**king off out of everyone’s lives like you want me to.”
It’s unclear if the police also detained the man who was seen in the original livestream on January 2.