Who’s in the wrong here?
Shaboozey has accidentally found himself at the center of a wedding controversy, simply because he wanted to enjoy a relaxing day floating the river.
The drama started back on August 8 when a couple was getting married at Brown’s Owens River Campground near Mammoth Lakes, California. As the name would imply, there’s a river near the outdoor venue, and Shaboozey and his crew happened to be floating down the river as the bride and groom were tying the knot.
According to an interview with People, wedding coordinator Callie Smith says the crowd noticed Shaboozey and about three dozen others floating by just as the wedding was about to get started:
“Just as we were about to line up, a few of the family members started yelling, ‘The bride is down there,’ and we saw a trail of floats with three dozen people coming up the river toward the ceremony location.
As the planner, I decided to hold off on the ceremony to allow the crowd to float by. When the crowd got closer, they informed us Shaboozey was on the float heading our way.”
The coordinator asked if she could take a photo of the bride and groom with the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer, and he jokingly replied that it was fine – as long as he didn’t have to get out of his float. So she whipped out her cell phone and took a short video of the couple smiling as Shaboozey floats by and raises his arms in celebration.
Well after the wedding, the coordinator posted the video to her K. Rose Events social media, and Shaboozey even shared it on his own pages while sharing his best wishes for the couple:
@shaboozey When in Mammoth… shoutout to these two! 📸: @k.roseevents
So what’s the problem?
Well after the video went viral, the couple’s wedding photographer took to social media to claim that the bride was upset that the wedding coordinator posted the video after specifically asking her not to share the moment on social media – and that she wasn’t happy that the group passed by right as their wedding was supposed to start:
“My bride is not happy that it’s going viral. Even at the time that it was happening, when we were at the campground getting ready to do her wedding ceremony, she didn’t love that Shaboozey was there and going down the river. Obviously, she’s like, ‘I need to start the ceremony. It’s 4:00.’ Like, we’re going to have to wait for them to go by. She realizes they were having a good time. We came to the conclusion, ‘Okay, let’s just let it happen. Let’s move on from it.'”
(Kind of a risk of having an outdoor wedding).
The photographer goes on to say that the bride asked the coordinator to take the video down after it was posted, because she didn’t want the attention to be on Shaboozey floating down the river instead of her wedding day. But the wedding coordinator refused, and the story was quickly picked up and began going viral.
@.yoitsmoe Hi guys @california photographer here 📸 #shaboozey #weddingtok #weddingdrama #weddingday #weddingphotographer
Well after the photographer’s story began going viral, the comments quickly turned on the bride, calling her out for being upset that Shaboozey was floating by and point out that he had every right to be there, which is one of the risks of having an outdoor wedding. So the photographer once again took to social media to defend the bride, claiming she has no problem with Shaboozey and her frustration is entirely with the wedding coordinator for posting the video:
@.yoitsmoe Last and final video. I will not be commenting back 🫶🏼👍🏼 #shaboozey #viralwedding #weddingtok #bride #viral
And now, the comments are turning on the photographer, pointing out that if the bride didn’t want attention called to the situation, releasing two videos about it is a weird way to make the online buzz die down.
So who’s in the wrong? Well right off the bat it’s clear that Shaboozey didn’t do anything wrong. He was just out enjoying his day and floating down the river – and obviously he had no obligation to avoid that section of the river just because there was a wedding going on.
The wedding coordinator apparently took the video on her cell phone, which means that she owns the copyright to the video unless she has contract with the bride that would give the bride ownership of any photos or videos taken that day. That’s common in contracts with wedding photographers, but probably wasn’t something that would be included in a contract with a wedding coordinator because it’s usually not something that would come up.
That means that legally, the coordinator likely had the right to post the video, regardless of whether the bride liked it or not. But should she have respected the bride’s wishes and not posted the video if she didn’t want it going viral?
I guess that’s a matter of opinion.
