The New York City Police Department downplayed its apparent surveillance of Drake’s concert at the Apollo Theater.
Jon Caramanica of the New York Times shared a video of an officer filming fans exiting Drake’s show on Saturday (January 21). A spokesperson for the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information denied the footage was evidence of NYPD surveillance on Monday (January 23).
“The officer depicted in the video is a Community Affairs officer involved with the 28th Precinct’s social media team,” the spokesperson told Consequence. “The officer was taking video for an upcoming Twitter post that will highlight local community events. The video will not be utilized for any other reason.”
here’s the video pic.twitter.com/xeCB96veU0
— Jon Caramanica (@joncaramanica) January 22, 2023
Drake performed at the Apollo Theater for the first time in his career on Saturday. The music superstar originally intended to make his Apollo debut in November 2022. He postponed the event following Takeoff’s death.
The OVO rapper rescheduled the concert for December 2022 but delayed it again due to production issues. Drake finally hit the Apollo stage over the weekend, performing two shows at the historic venue in Harlem.
Drake paused his second performance after a fan fell from the Apollo’s balcony on Sunday (January 22). The theater announced there were no major injuries on Monday.