Flume scandal: Australian DJ responds to Burning Man on-stage sex act furore | Video
WARNING: Explicit content
Aussie DJ Flume has made a joke of his graphic onstage sex act at Burning Man, with a cheeky Instagram post in the wake of the furore.
Flume, aka Harley Streten, was playing at the annual music festival in the Nevada desert this week when he was filmed performing a sex act on a woman.
In a picture on his official Instagram page today, Flume is holding a piece of fruit in his mouth with a cheesy grin, paired with the caption: “It was a joke (sorry mum)”.
Fellow celebrities have commented on the post, with Paris Hilton posting a peach and a laughing face emoji, while DJ Alison Wonderland simply wrote: “iconic”.
Earlier, the fan at the centre of the scandal gave her side of the story, insisting it didn’t play out how it looked.
Flume’s girlfriend, actress Paige Elkington, posted a video of the incident to her Instagram story on September 2.
The story, which has since been deleted from her account, begins with a photo of a woman in the crowd holding up a sign saying, “Does Flume even *** ***?” Elkington’s caption read, “Lol wait for next story.”
It then shows a brief video of a woman on all fours in front of the 27-year-old as he performs a sex act on her with the caption, “Sorry mom.”
As the story went viral and made headlines around the world, Ambor Mercy — the woman who was holding up the graphic sign — told the Daily Mail that the public reaction had made her “sad”.
“People are making it out to be some crazy sex act when he just put his face in (the woman’s) bottom,” explained Mercy, who was standing near the DJ booth at the time.
“There was consent from her and she was wearing underwear so it’s not like he actually (performed the sex act) on stage. It was just in good Burning Man fun.”
She added: “He’s a really awesome guy, I wish him the best and I really hope that this doesn’t negatively affect him, that would make me really bummed.”
Understandably, Flume was the top trending topic on Twitter when the story broke on Tuesday.
“I thought we were getting a new album because Flume was trending but no,” one user wrote.
Here’s a sample of the other (PG-rated) reactions to the video:
Flume wouldn’t be the first Burning Man reveller caught on camera doing something outrageous — the festival is notorious for its debaucherous vibe and wild (often naked) fashions.
The Never Be Like You hitmaker has enjoyed huge success since he burst on the scene in 2011, with two number one albums, 11 ARIA Awards and a Triple J Hottest 100 win in 2016.
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