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A British pianist and YouTuber who was accosted by a Chinese ‘TV crew’ who demanded he stop filming them in public has been accused of stoking racial tensions.Brendan Kavanaugh, who goes by the name Dr K, was livestreaming himself playing piano at London’s St Pancras station while a group of Chinese tourists looked on in bemusement.The group initially seemed to be enjoying the performance, but after they noticed they were being filmed things quickly turned sour, and they approached Kavanaugh telling him to stop filming them as it ‘wasn’t allowed’.A woman asks: ‘We’re here for Chinese TV — did you film all of us in your cameras?’When Kavanaugh responds by telling the group that he is filming a livestream, the woman asks him to delete the footage as they didn’t give him permission to film them.A man with the group then steps in. He said: ‘So basically, it would be much appreciated when whatever you’re doing that you don’t put our face on TV.’Kavanaugh said: ‘So what will happen?’, to which the man replies: ‘Just don’t do it, please.’But the pianist responds bullishly to their requests, telling them ‘we are in Great Britain.The row escalates after he tries to touch one of the women’s flags, leading to the police getting involved and the Chinese man accusing Kavanaugh of racism, which he denies.But following the furore, one of the women involved has taken to Chinese social media to share her side of the story.She says the group were there to film Chinese New Year’s greetings for a company, and that due to a non-disclosure agreement they had signed none of the footage they had filmed could be released to the public ahead of time.The group were hoping to use the piano to film their own content, and were kept waiting for over 40 minutes as Kavanaugh continued to play.‘At this point we realised he was probably a content creator’ she said.Upon approaching the pianist, he repeatedly referred to them as Japanese, before playing a well-known song discriminatory towards Chinese people on the piano.‘My friend asked me to ask politely how long it would take him, but we did not ask him to stop. I only asked him after he finished playing, and didn’t disrupt him like he claimed.’After they realised he was a content creator and was making money from his livestream, they asked him to delete the footage as it would violate their non-disclosure agreement.They also accused him of deliberately editing the footage to make their group seem hysterical.Two police officers soon arrive, with the male officer explaining to the Chinese tourists: ‘You’re in a public place. If they’re filming they have a right. If they’re filming and you’re in a public place, your face could be on that video.’But additional footage suggests Kavanaugh selectively edited the footage to make himself seem more sympathetic.‘He only published the side he edited himself,’ said the woman.‘Later, the person in charge of Kings Cross station also found us and said this person is actually a regular visitor.‘He has been asked to leave many times in the past and did not have a permit to film at the station for commercial reasons.’‘If the police see him again, he will no longer be allowed in,’ she added.Mr Kavanugh’s YouTube channel has over 2 million subscribers, which means he is eligibe for monetisation.
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