Bob Mackin
A 37-year-old Vancouver woman has been charged with mischief after appearing topless on the Juno Awards stage March 13 in Edmonton.
The woman, who had slogans scrawled on her torso and back in opposition to the Ontario government’s plan to build housing on farmland, interrupted Avril Lavigne. The singer reacted with expletives and demanded she leave as the CBC cameras zoomed out from the Rogers Place stage.
Casey Hatherly’s Juno Awards topless stage crash (On2Ottawa/Twitter)
Casey Hatherly, who also goes by the nickname “Ever,” was held in custody and appeared in court in Edmonton on March 15. Her next court date is April 5.
Hatherly gained attention twice last year for similar stunts in Vancouver and Victoria.
Last August, she scaled the Art Deco Tourism Victoria Visitor Centre, a former gas station, in a Save Old Growth protest.
“My dangerous areolas are a threat to some,” Hatherly said in a Facebook post last summer. “I’m attracting attention to raise an alarm for our world in crisis—a place where ancient trees that give all of us the oxygen we breathe are clear cut for profit.”
Last June 9, Hatherly and a male Save Old Growth protester walked down a level 2 end zone aisle at B.C. Place Stadium, climbed over a barrier, walked past contracted security guards from Genesis Security and onto the pitch during the CONCACAF Nations League match between Canada and Curaçao.
They proceeded to attach themselves to opposite goalposts with zap straps. Ever’s breasts were partially covered by Save Old Growth stickers. Many of the 14,809 attendees reacted by booing the protest.
The attention-getting stunt by the U.S.-funded group, incorporated as Eco-Mobilization Canada, promoted its next wave of illegal bridge and highway blockades, which led to multiple arrests and convictions for mischief.
“Charges of mischief were recommended by police, but Crown did not approve them,” said Vancouver Police public information officer Const. Tania Visintin.
Save Old Growth protester Casey Hatherly at B.C. Place Stadium in June 2022 (Save Old Growth/Facebook)
According to documents obtained via freedom of information from B.C. Pavilion Corporation, the regional FIFA subsidiary sent a warning letter to the Canadian Soccer Association after the incident.
The heavily redacted letter on June 11 from Carlos Fernandez, the CONCACAF director of competitions, was forwarded by CSA director of competition and events Jessie Daly to stadium management.
Fernandez’s letter was copied to CONCACAF general secretary Philippe Moggio, head of national competitions Pedro Velasquez and Alejandra Yepes, the senior manager of disciplinary and administration.
Fernandez had sent the letter to Earl Cochrane, the CSA’s general secretary, about the incident in the 67th minute of the match. The pitch invasion led to a three-minute stoppage in play.
The PavCo internal incident report said that around 8:55 p.m., a security manager responded and found the pair attached to separate goalposts. Two police officers arrested and escorted them to the stadium’s east staff entrance/exit, where a security supervisor and Vancouver Police sergeant took over.
After a March 2016 Canadian men’s World Cup qualifying match against Mexico at B.C. Place, FIFA fined the CSA 27,000 Swiss francs (now worth C$40,000) under its disciplinary code for pitch invasion by supporters and insulting chants by supporters.
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