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Australia Today

Chinese Boy Band’s Diehard Fans Get into an All-In Brawl on the Gold Coast

Justin Huang's groupies are hardcore—and they're willing to spill blood to prove it.
Gavin Butler
Melbourne, AU
Image via Nine News

Five people have been arrested and one person has been sent to hospital after an all-in brawl between fans of a Chinese boy band erupted outside a hotel on the Gold Coast yesterday.

Sixteen-year-old pop sensation Justin Huang and his band Nine Percent rose to stardom after appearing on Idol Producer: a Chinese reality boy group survival show that aired online throughout the beginning of the year. Justin's fans are passionate: they know his blood type (A), his weight (56 kilograms), and dedicate slavering, long-winded internet posts to the plethora of things they adore about him. A week before the band touched down in Australia, one particular devotee paid thousands of dollars to have "Justin Huang" written in the skies over Surfers Paradise.

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By the time Justin and Nine Percent arrived by bus at the Azzura Greens Resort on Hope Island yesterday, a crowd of fawning, love-drunk fans were already in tow. They'd reportedly been tailing the band all morning, scrambling to get photos, and upon arrival were confronted by a film crew who were documenting the tour. Within seconds, a veritable shitstorm had broken loose.

Footage captured on a witness' phone shows the group of fans and video crew—predominantly males—trading blows in the street outside the hotel. There are people being punched in the head, people being punched in the back, and at least one guy who gets wrestled to the ground in the middle of the whole thing and stomped by a raving throng of groupies. Another guy loses his shoe.

Up to 20 individuals became embroiled in the violent brawl before police arrived to arrest people and deescalate the situation. A 26-year-old Griffith University student was taken to hospital, while two 30-year-old men, a 23-year-old man, and two women aged 23 and 28 have since been charged with common assault and public nuisance. Queensland Police seized the offender's passports as part of the investigation.

Justin and Nine Percent were due to fly home today. With members of the crew now without passports, however, they may be forced to hang around a little while longer.