CHARLESTON, W.Va.--The joke was on Charleston lawyer Mike Callaghan at a concert by crooner Harry Connick Jr.
Except it wasn't exactly a joke.
In front of a capacity crowd at the Clay Center on Wednesday night, Connick confiscated the ex-U.S. attorney's iPhone and scolded Callaghan like a schoolmarm.
Connick played the situation off like a joke, except it was clear to everyone, including Callaghan, that the singer was peeved that the front-row patron had been blatantly using his cell phone to take pictures during the concert.
"I guess we weren't supposed to take pictures," a chastened Callaghan said.
His wife, Cheri Heflin, said she was shocked.
"When Harry took Mike's phone, I thought, 'Oh no. This is not going to be a good end to the evening,' " Heflin said. "I sat there very nervous and thought about what was going to happen."
It was the encounter the entire crowd was talking about after the show. It was startling enough that the superstar had swiped a cell phone and chastised a Charleston resident.
But for those too far away to realize immediately that it was Callaghan on the receiving end, it was even more of a surprise. A candidate for Congress four years ago, Callaghan is quite well known.
But things went a little hinky during one of Connick's first songs, "Mona Lisa," when a few members of the audience came in late and were taking their seats near the front.
Connick stopped singing and asked the people why they were late. They responded that they had received slow service at a local restaurant. "Was that worth being late?" Connick asked them.
The audience was cracking up at the interaction, with many wondering if Connick was being good-natured or if he was actually using humor to demonstrate his frustration with the late-arrivers and flashing cameras.
Callaghan found out the hard way.
Connick winged the expensive phone offstage.
The surprised audience roared with laughter.
Darkness and the curtain prevented anyone from seeing what had become of the phone. For all anyone knew, it had landed with a crack.
Heflin said she was afraid the phone, which was not in a protective case, would be broken. In the past, the phone has had the screen replaced three or four times.
Connick, nonplussed, went on with the show.
Then, a while later, Connick went offstage and came back with the phone. With an exaggerated posture meant to emulate a strict teacher taking away a favorite toy from a misbehaving student, he stood over Callaghan and scolded him. He said his crew had taken 50 photos and two videos off the phone.
He asked why someone in the front row would video so blatantly. Someone in the balcony, you could understand, Connick said. Connick also said he doesn't like the notion of his shows winding up as blurry videos on YouTube and likes for the concert to be between him and the audience.
More...
http://www.dailymail.com/Entertainment/201002180540
