16 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Icelandic pop singer Bjork attacked a news photographer in New Zealand, ripping his shirt in half after he ignored a request not to snap any shots, the New Zealand Herald reported on Monday.

The incident took place at Auckland International Airport on Sunday, after the musician had flown in for a concert later in the week, the paper said. It echoes an outburst at Bangkok's airport in 1996, when Bjork unleashed her fury on a journalist.

Glenn Jeffrey, a photographer with the Herald, told the paper Bjork was accompanied by a man who asked him not to take photographs.

"I took a couple of pictures and I got about three or four frames of her … and as I turned and walked away she came up behind me, grabbed the back of my black skivvy (sweatshirt) and tore it down the back," he said. "As she did this she fell over, she fell to the ground. At no stage did I touch her or speak with her."

Bjork said nothing during the confrontation, but her companion pleaded with her to stop, Jeffrey said.

The Herald's Web site reported later that neither the newspaper nor Jeffrey plans to file charges against Bjork, and an Auckland police spokesman said it was not investigating the incident.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Eric Beech)

Natalie Finn Sun Jan 13, 4:16 PM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Björk has given new meaning to the phrase "thunder from Down Under." 

The pint-sized Icelandic singer attacked a newspaper photographer in New Zealand Sunday after he attempted to get a few shots off upon her arrival at Auckland International Airport, per local media reports.

New Zealand Herald shutterbug Glenn Jeffrey told his country's Press Association news agency that he had simply snapped a few pictures of Björk when she all of a sudden grabbed him and ripped his T-shirt.

"As I turned and walked away she came up behind me, grabbed the back of my black skivvy and tore it," Jeffrey, 25, said. "As she did this she fell over, she fell to the ground." 

"At no stage did I touch her or speak with her," he added. 

Jeffrey said that the "It's Oh So Quiet" songstress didn't say anything, but that he could hear her male companion saying, "B, don't do this, B, don't do this." 

An airport spokeswoman told reporters that there is video footage of the incident in case police request it. (But in case they don't, you can still see it on YouTube.) 

Jeffrey has spoken to the cops, but as yet it's unknown whether any further action will be taken.

"I don't see being assaulted as I'm working as a press photographer as an acceptable thing," Jeffrey said. "If anybody assaults anybody you have the right to a legal recourse, whoever they are."

Per the Herald, Björk also went postal on a reporter in 1996 when the hapless journalist tried to ask the 12-time Grammy nominee's then-10-year-old son Sindri a question. The Dancer in the Dark star later apologized and no charges were ever filed.

The allegedly volatile chanteuse is in town to perform at the Big Day Out music festival on Friday. The annual event sets up shop in both New Zealand and Australia and she is among the artists set to appear in both countries. Other headliners this year include Rage Against the Machine, Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem.

34 minutes ago

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Icelandic singer Bjork attacked a newspaper photographer shortly after she arrived at New Zealand’s Auckland International Airport on Sunday, local media reported.

Bjork, who is in the northern city of Auckland to perform at the Big Day Out concert on Friday, tore “New Zealand Herald” photographer Glenn Jeffrey’s shirt after he photographed her arriving at the airport early Sunday, he told news agency New Zealand Press Association according to a report on Monday.

Jeffrey, a news photographer for 25 years, said Bjork was accompanied by a man who asked him not take photos.

“I took a couple of pictures … and as I turned and walked away she came up behind me, grabbed the back of my black skivvy (T-shirt) and tore it,” he told the agency.

“As she did this, she fell over, she fell to the ground,” he said. “At no stage did I touch her or speak with her.”

Bjork said nothing throughout the incident but her male companion was saying: “‘B, don’t do this, B, don’t do this,’” Jeffrey said.

Jeffrey said he spoke with Auckland police about the incident later Sunday.