Skip to main content

Karaoke Singer Attacks Applebee's Manager Over Bad Review

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. on March 20, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Karaoke and alcohol usually go hand and hand, but the combo isn't for everyone. In fact, it definitely wasn't for Jeffrey Thompson on Sunday night.

Police in Melbourne, Fla., arrested the 28-year-old after he instigated an Applebee's karaoke brawl. None too pleased when the restaurant manager asked him to leave the karaoke stage, he turned violent and punched the guy in the face. He was then tasered by an off-duty cop who just happened to be chomping down on some chain restaurant food.

Now, bad singing can at times be karaoke gold. But Jeffrey Thompson took it one step too far. In an apparent drunken haze, he began to strip, really getting into the song. When a customer complained, WKMG-TV reports that the manager asked him to leave. When Thompson refused, the manager turned off the music. Thompson then turned on him -- with a clenched fist.

Being tasered didn't seem to calm Thompson down, as video shows the drunken karaoke man gloating about knocking the manager out.

Thompson has been charged with disorderly conduct and battery, according to the local news station. As long as Thompson has never before been convicted of battery, aggravated battery or felony battery, the charges should remain misdemeanors under Florida law. Still, the battery charge carries a penalty of up to 1 year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

A bad karaoke review is never worth $1,000.

Now that the story of Jeffrey Thompson has been summed up, it's clearly that there is one question that has yet to be answer. Since when does Applebee's have a karaoke night?

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard