Raging 'Rocket Man' explodes
By This is London
23 September 2004
Sir Elton John branded photographers in Taiwan "rude, vile pigs" today in a furious airport bust-up.
The star arrived in the country to play a concert, the last date in his tour of the Far East.
But after touching down at Taipei's Chiang Kai-Shek airport by private jet in the early hours of this morning, he was besieged by photographers and TV crews.
Taiwanese news channel ETTV showed Sir Elton, dressed in a royal blue tracksuit and matching sunglasses, clenching his teeth and muttering expletives as he stood with his arms crossed tightly across his chest.
"Rude, vile pigs!" he shouted. "Do you know what that means? Rude, vile pigs. That's what all of you are."
One of the photographers shouted back: "Why don't you get out of Taiwan?"
Sir Elton replied: "We'd love to get out of Taiwan if it's full of people like you. Pig! Pig!"
The star, who recently performed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, said: "We had a great tour of the Far East and then we come to Taiwan."
It is not the first time the 57-year-old singer has lost his temper in public.
In the fly-on-the-wall documentary Tantrums And Tiaras, made by his partner David Furnish, he famously threw a fit when a female fan waved at him and
shouted "Yoo hoo!" on the tennis court of his French Riviera hotel.
He stormed off court saying: "I'm never coming back to the south of France again."
A spokeswoman for Sir Elton accused police and airport security officials of failing to protect the star but said he was "bravely" carrying on with tonight's concert at the Chung Shan soccer stadium.
"Elton John's arrival at Taipei Airport was greeted by what can only be described as chaos and confusion," the spokeswoman said.
"No sooner had he disembarked from the aircraft, he was led into the public immigration area of the airport which was immediately besieged by hordes of photographers and live TV crews intent upon disrupting his progress.
"The local police and security at the airport failed to protect Elton John from the ensuing chaos.
"Despite this frightening arrival, his spirits remain high and he is looking forward to performing the concert."
