Omari Hardwick is not here for people ignoring his family in public — especially when they’re trying to snap a photo with him.
The Power star defended his right to refuse to pose for pictures after a fan called Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club, furious that Hardwick had rejected her request to take a picture with him at Brooklyn Bridge Park. She accused him of becoming extremely upset with her even as she was walking away from him disappointed.
“He started yelling and screaming at me,” she said. “He just went all off telling me he don’t even want me to be his fan,” she continued.
Hardwick passionately refuted her claims on the show.
“She didn’t at all walk away,” he said. “She sat there and looked at me and said, ‘Really?’ and I said, ‘Really. I’m with my family. God bless you.’”
The incident led to Hardwick clapping back at another fan who criticized his decision on social media. He went on to explain that he became upset with the fan’s decision not to greet his wife or children, who are often at his side when he encounters supporters.
“Acknowledge our family,” he demanded on behalf of all celebrities. “You’re staring at me. You’re not even acknowledging my family.”
“I just think the correct walk to walk up to somebody is to just politely ask and if they say no try to understand,” said his Nobody’s Fool co-star, Tika Sumpter. “It’s happened to me when I’m with my daughter.”
Hardwick credited his wife, Jennifer Pfautch, for stepping in and taking pictures of him and fans on several occasions.
“J usually grabs the camera,” he said, “you know how many times J’s grabbed the camera and taken a picture?”
“This woman to my right has saved my life. You don’t really know the story,” he continued, revealing that she held him down long before the Starz checks card rolling in.
He then insisted that fans should recognize that his wife is human when they see them together.
“It can be half of a look ‘hi’ that’s all we need. Acknowledge that she is a breathing entity,” he said. “Disrespect is disrespect. Every day of the week and twice on Sundays.”
