The topless woman who ran up on stage while Avril Lavigne presented at the Juno Awards spent a night in jail and then appeared in an Edmonton courtroom on Wednesday morning, according to the Edmonton Journal.
Following her court appearance, she briefly spoke to the Edmonton Journal to let everyone know what, exactly, she was up to.
The woman, named Casey Heatherly but goes by Ever, explained that she planned her topless protest to raise awareness for environmental issues regarding development in the Ontario greenbelt. Ever is part of a group called On To Ottawa, which will travel from the west coast of Canada all the way to Ottawa during the spring to demand a citizen’s assembly on climate change.
“We created an international buzz and even if people aren’t asking the right questions now, they will be,” Heatherly said in a video interview. “This is our mobilization effort. We’re on to Ottawa and hope that you’ll all join us as demand a citizen’s assembly to address the desperate need for climate change action now.”
News: climate protester Casey Hatherly (who goes by the first name Ever) was briefly in Edmonton court today after being arrested for crashing the Junos stage topless. Here she is talking about why she did what she did (some brief language in here)
“I know that I have an incredible amount of privilege,” Heatherly added. “And it is my absolute privilege to stand up and fight for something I believe in and if the best way that I can do that is by playing the cards that I’m dealt—I have white privilege, I have perfect titties, and a huge ass—so I got the attention that On To Ottawa needs.”
When Heatherly ran on stage, she maintained hope that Lavigne would have given her the microphone to speak about her cause.
“I low-key, in my heart of hearts, hoped that she would be like ‘punk rock, girl power,’ give me the mic or something. But I don’t think it could have gone any better,” Heatherly said to the Edmonton Journal. “(It was) like, ‘Oh my God, is she actually going to give me the mic? Oh no, no, she just wants to call me a bitch.”
She also told the Canadian Press: “Just tell Avril I’m not mad.”
