British pop star Rita Ora has admitted to a “serious error of judgement” after she was busted for hosting a lavish 30th birthday party for herself at her restaurant in London.
According to the Daily Mail, the “Hot Right Now” singer invited at least seven friends to the bash at the Casa Cruz restaurant in Notting Hill where they partied “until the early hours” of Sunday morning.
After being alerted to the possible infringement of Britain’s nationwide lockdown measures, the London Metropolitan Police attempted to gain access to the venue at around 9pm on Saturday evening, but with no success.
However, officers continued their investigation into whether an event was taking place, and reportedly slapped Ora with a £10,000 fine for her flouting of the lockdown rules. Ora has since acknowledged her mistake, describing it as a “serious and inexcusable error of judgement.”
“Hello all, I attended a small gathering with some friends to celebrate my 30th birthday,” she posted on her Instagram story as reports began to hit the media. “It was a spur of the moment decision made with the misguided view that we were coming out of lockdown and this would be OK. I’m deeply sorry for breaking the rules and in turn understand that this puts people at risk.”
“This was a serious and inexcusable error of judgement,” she added. “Given the restrictions, I realise how irresponsible these actions were and I take full responsibility.”
A source close to Ora told the Mail: “Rita knows her actions were wrong which is why she has voluntarily paid the £10,000 ($13,367 USD) fine to the council. She hopes this will go some way to making up for her error of judgement.”
Ora’s ignoring of the rules follows countless reports of celebrities and public officials urging the public to abide by lockdown measures imposed as a response to the Chinese coronavirus before being caught violating the rules themselves.
Earlier this month, the cast and crew of the upcoming Matrix 4 film reportedly skirted Germany’s ban on parties and large social gatherings by throwing a party scene within the movie.
According to the newspaper Dild, the some 200 actors and production crew attending the bash at the Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, Berlin, enjoyed everything from a DJ and pyrotechnics to tattoo stations and food caravans handing out sushi and fancy desserts.
In August, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo allowed musicians and celebrities to skirt the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine rules so that they could perform at the MTV Video Music Awards.
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