A group of Asian dancers in New York City was filming a K-pop cover video in Times Square when an unidentified male was caught on camera sexually harassing one of its members.
An uninvited appearance: Yingqi, a member of 404 Dance Crew, was filming a dance cover of “Next Level” by aespa for the group’s YouTube channel on the evening of May 25.
- In a video posted to Yingqi’s Instagram account, a male observer can be seen watching the girls from the sidelines before approaching them as they are filming.
- He then seemingly thrusts his pelvis at the Chinese dancer, who was unaware of his presence as she moved backwards.
- She shared that she was “horrified” following the incident.
- Instagram account @whatisnewyork reposted the video with the caption “TikToking in Times Square #whatisnewyork“
- Yingqi can be seen stumbling as the man pushes into her from behind before walking away.
Some users defended the man for his actions.
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter
A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.
Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.
Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.
Other users considered the incident as sexual harassment.
More details: Yingqi told NextShark she and her team were “hurt” while reading the post’s comments, with some Instagram users calling the man a “national hero.”
- Yingqi said the post’s original caption was “Risks of TikToking in Times Square.” She reached out to @whatisnewyork as well as its founder, @rickmcguire13, to edit the caption. She also explained that the group was not making a video for TikTok.
- The two Instagram accounts allegedly did not respond to her messages. The caption of the post has been changed, but it still claims that the group’s intention was to make a TikTok video.
- Yingqi told NextShark that she was not offered an apology. McGuire allegedly blocked her and her friends who contacted him. She said that she wanted to post the video of the incident to spread awareness of the situation.
- “I hope that after watching this video, people will be better able to protect themselves,” she said. “Sexual harassment is a very uncomfortable thing, and it’s not just girls who suffer from it. Everyone needs to learn to protect themselves.”
NextShark has reached out multiple times to both @whatisnewyork and @rickmcguire13 for further comment. We also contacted NYPD which said, “There is currently nothing on file with the information provided.”
Featured Image Screenshot via @yingqi_zhou (left), 404 Dance Crew (right)
