The Guns N’ Roses fan who says her Where’s Izzy sign was destroyed by security at the band’s Nashville show has hit back after a representative for the group denied they’d made the call.
Caroline Campos purchased VIP tickets for her and her husband and travelled seven hours each way from Virginia to Tennessee’s Nissan Stadium for the gig on July 9.
She said frontman Axl Rose laughed when he saw the sign about former GNR guitarist Izzy Stradlin – similar to one featured in the video for Don’t Cry – before a security guard confiscated it and ripped it up.
A band representative told Ultimate Guitar: “GNR would never make this request. Izzy is family.”
But Campos now tells TeamRock the sign was removed by Fernando Lebeis, a member of Axl Rose’s management company Team Brazil and son of the singer’s longtime personal assistant Beta.
She says: “I saw that the band commented they had nothing to do with my sign being removed. While it’s totally possible they had nothing to do with it directly, someone sent me a message that it was ‘probably Fernando.’
“I Googled ‘Fernando Lebeis’ and immediately recognised him. I don’t want anything out of this except to tell the story of a disappointed fan and to say I am not lying. I have no reason to.”
Lebeis previously courted controversy when he was filmed pushing away a fan’s phone as he tried to take a selfie with Rose at a Q&A in London last month. A video of that incident can be viewed below.
Lebeis was also forced to deny allegations that he was instructed to ban merchandise featuring then former guitarist Slash at GNR’s Winnipeg show in 2010. An upset teenage fan faced a similar reprimand for his Slash t-shirt at the band’s London O2 Academy show in 2012 – with a witness claiming security were “told by management” to ask gig-goers to remove offending items and eject the fans if they refused.
Campos says she’s faced backlash from Guns N’ Roses fans since the incident, but insists her sign was simply a tribute to her favourite GNR video, Don’t Cry – and not a swipe at current rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus.
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She adds: “I do want to try to convey that the sign wasn’t meant to be rude or malicious to the band, especially Richard Fortus.
“Asking ‘Where’s Izzy’ is not meant to insult Fortus any more than cheering for drummer Steven Adler would convey anything negative about Frank Ferrer. I made the sign as a tribute to the Don’t Cry video, where the ‘Where’s Izzy’ sign is featured for a split second.
“It’s my favourite GNR video and I tried to recreate the sign exactly. I’m not sure how anyone could take it to mean anything negative about the band.
“My husband and I paid a lot of money and drove a long way to see the band. I’m just so disappointed it happened. But I thought they all put on a great show, including Fortus.”
GNR continue their North American tour this month.
Guns N’ Roses Not In This Lifetime Tour 2016
Jul 14: Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field, PA
Jul 16: Toronto Rogers Centre, ON
Jul 19: Boston Foxborough Gillette Stadium, MA (with Lenny Kravitz)
Jul 20: Boston Foxborough Gillette Stadium, MA (with Lenny Kravitz)
Jul 23: New York MetLife Stadium, NY (with Lenny Kravitz)
Jul 24: New York MetLife Stadium, NY (with Lenny Kravitz)
Jul 27: Atlanta Georgia Dome, GA
Jul 29: Orlando Citrus Bowl, FL
Jul 31: New Orleans Mercedez Benz Superdome, LA
Aug 03: Arlington AT&T Stadium, TX
Aug 05: Houston NRG Park, TX
Aug 09: San Francisco AT&T Park, CA
Aug 12: Seattle CenturyLink Field, WA
Aug 15: Glendale University Of Phoenix Stadium, AZ
Aug 18: Los Angeles Dodger Stadium, CA
Aug 22: San Diego Qualcomm Stadium, CA
