MCR And Photog Make Nice

A photographer who violated her press credential during a recent My Chemical Romance show found herself in a world of hurt when she was confronted by a member of the band’s security team.

Nichole Torpea told the Riverfront Times that she had received permission to photograph the band’s recent concert at The Pageant in St. Louis, but when she began shooting from the balcony during the show, a man dressed in black grabbed her and pulled her into a stairwell, pushing her to the ground.

"I was collapsing under his pressure," she said. "I had no idea what was going on. He had no ID and wouldn’t tell me who he was. He kept saying, ‘You know what you did. Give me the f***ing camera.’"

After ripping the camera from Torpea’s hands, the man reportedly returned several minutes later and handed it back after deleting all the images on the memory card, telling her she would never work for the band or Warner Bros. again, the paper said.

While Torpea told the Times she momentarily blacked out after the incident, and eventually called the police to report the alleged offense, she also realized that she had "misunderstood" the terms of her press credential.

"I thought the rule only applied to photos near the stage," she said. "I didn’t realize it extended throughout the club and on the balcony."

Still, Warner Bros. spokesman Luke Burland told the paper the band was unaware of the incident until contacted.

"The band is definitely looking into it and will take appropriate action," Burland said. "They feel horrible about this. It’s not who they are. They want to make amends."

And make amends they did.

Torpea told the paper she decided to let bygones be bygones, and accepted the band’s offer to fly to New York City to shoot MCR’s Madison Square Garden concert and attend an afterparty.

"Essentially I was looking for an apology," Torpea said.