A musician faces legal consequences after interrupting lectures at the University of Connecticut during the first week of classes to promote his new song.
30-year-old John Berry, whose artist name is MabWorldz, travelled to several universities and interrupted lectures by playing his song, “The Star Lounge.” Students said they saw Berry walk into the lecture halls shirtless, with a USA-themed bandana before he began dancing.
Berry has faced legal repercussions for his stunt. According to Berry, he received a phone call from the UConn Police Department. He said the UConn police were respectful and said they liked his music, but due to complaints they had put out a warrant for his arrest.
“I tried to reason with [the police officer]. He wasn’t really budging,” Berry said.” He said he would follow up with me next week, which he did not do.”
Berry said he has not received any updates from UConn and has emailed them multiple times but hasn’t received a response. He said he does not know where he stands legally with UConn.
The Daily Campus reached out to the police via email for comment. UCPD said they could not provide comment on an open investigation.
Berry said his goal for doing this stunt was to spread joy through his music, and to connect people with their inner youth.
“I want to aspire to create a unique version of something that lifts people’s spirits,” Berry said. “I think there’s a lot of music out there today… that is poisoning people without them realizing it.”
To achieve this goal, Berry came up with the idea of going to local universities, such as UConn, Quinnipiac University and SUNY Purchase, and dancing while playing his song. Berry said he has already gone to fast food places, diners and restaurants, and so universities felt like the next step. He said he wanted to share his love for music with the younger generation.
“I’ve always loved music. Like, it was a really important part of my routine,” Berry said. “I always was able to resonate with how different music can connect to different moments in time, which I think is a beautiful thing.”
Berry has been living in Connecticut for the past few years. He felt that it was the perfect place for him to start promoting “The Star Lounge” because it felt like home to him.
Berry said the college movement would be great to diversify his listeners. He also said that he aimed to go to more public schools because there were less regulations.
“I just started to go into college classrooms, and at first I didn’t really know what to do,” Berry said. “I just kind of went and did the dance and was speaking off the cuff.”
To prepare, Berry said he asked ChatGPT what the best lecture halls were at each university.
Students said they found Berry hilarious and a great addition to their day. Ella Cohen, a third-semester pathobiology student at UConn was sitting in her public health lecture and recalled occurrence when Berry entered the lecture hall. She said she recorded Berry as a joke to share with her friends from home and posted it on TikTok. Cohen’s video accumulated over 150,000 views.
“I thought it was really funny,” Cohen said. “Like, I was really confused what was happening, but it was, like, entertaining.”
Samara Alyosfi, a first-semester psychology student, said she saw so many perspectives of what happened on TikTok. She was also present in the public health lecture and saw herself in the videos posted on TikTok.
“My family sent me pictures of me sitting in the front row. I just looked so shocked,” Alyosfi said. “I was getting clipped in the comments.”
Katie Tran, a third-semester allied health student, said she thought Berry was awesome and a good wake up call for her public health lecture. She found it funny and said the class got a good laugh.
“That’s the sole purpose of him doing that,” Tran said. “Just spread joy and happiness just for a little bit, even it’s something silly, and that’s what he got out of it.”
Many students were confused why Berry decided to come into the lecture hall shirtless. Berry explained that this helped create his brand that inspires freedom and encourages people to be their true authentic self. He also said how it was good motivation to keep himself in shape.
“I love to be able to walk outside on a warm day without my shirt on. It’s very liberating,” Berry said. “I feel free, and I like to bring that type of energy wherever I go.”
But not everyone was a fan of Berry’s actions. Students said that parents reported how they felt students were unsafe due to the lack of security allowing anyone to walk into lecture halls unprompted.
Berry said he is going to go across the country for two weeks to reach more schools. According to Berry, he aspires to keep spreading his love for music to the world and making people happy.
“My whole mission is to elevate the spirits of everybody I encounter,” Berry said. “To make people smile, make people laugh, to feel joyous… while spreading my music and building my platform.”