Shanghai Disneyland show cancelled, police called after audience member attacks actor. Family blames her mental health
- A woman walked on stage during a Pirates of the Caribbean show and started hitting an actor while shouting at him
- Relatives of the attacker said she had previously showed signs of mental illness, and a hospital later diagnosed ‘acute mental illness’
A Shanghai Disneyland show was cancelled and police were called after an audience member assaulted an actor in the middle of a performance.
The 35-year-old woman, surnamed Guan, walked onto the stage during a Pirates of the Caribbean show and began beating an actor across the head.
“You consider yourself Chinese? Look at him! Try taking off your trousers and waving a whip in front of everyone next time and see what happens,” she yelled, going on to call the actor an “American’s pig”.
Her accusation was in reference to a comedic introductory segment where an actor ripped off the outer trousers of another performer, while waving a whip around.
In a video circulated online after the incident, the woman is then seen walking away from the actor she has assaulted while continuing to berate him, to the bewilderment of both audience and crew.
A member of staff tried to stop the woman, but was unable to contain her before the incident, which occurred at 5pm on Saturday at the amusement park.
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The footage showed the woman returning to her seat, and refusing the theatre staff’s requests for her to leave.
Shanghai police later released an official statement saying that they had found the woman speaking in a “confusing and incoherent way” when she was taken in for questioning. No actors had suffered significant injury during the incident, the statement said.
When contacted by authorities, Guan’s relatives said she had previously shown signs of mental illness and had travelled alone to Shanghai from another city.
Guan was admitted to a mental health facility in Shanghai following the attack and has since been diagnosed with “acute mental illness” for which she is now receiving treatment, according to the statement.
