Pitchfork

Photo by Ashley Williamson

Jet lag is a bitch, and Björk knows this as well as anyone (e.g. her 1996 freakout on a journalist in a Thailand airport). After arriving at the Auckland International Airport in Auckland, New Zealand at 7:50 a.m. yesterday, January 13, the Icelandic singer attacked a photographer from The New Zealand Herald when he snapped pictures of her in spite of a request not to do so.

Glenn Jeffrey, the photographer, explained the incident to the Herald: "I took a couple of pictures, and I got about three or four frames of her... And as I turned and walked away she came up behind me, grabbed the back of my black skivvy [shirt] and tore it down the back.

"As she did this she fell over, she fell to the ground. At no stage did I touch her or speak with her."

Jeffrey added that a man accompanying Björk told her, "B, don't do this, B, don't do this."

A follow-up story from the Herald reports that neither Jeffrey nor the newspaper is pressing charges.

When asked for a response, Björk's management issued no comment.

The reason for Björk's visit to Auckland is the first of her 2008 tour dates, which kicks off the Big Day Out festival on January 18. She has added shows in Indonesia, China, and England since our last report.

Björk:

01-18 Auckland, New Zealand - Mt. Smart Stadium (Big Day Out Festival)
01-20 Gold Coast, Australia - Parklands (Big Day Out Festival)
01-23 Sydney, Australia - Sydney Opera House Forecourt (Sydney Festival)
01-25 Sydney, Australia - Sydney Showgrounds (Big Day Out Festival)
01-28 Melbourne, Australia - Flemington Racecourse (Big Day Out Festival)
02-01 Adelaide, Australia - Adelaide Showground (Big Day Out Festival)
02-03 Perth, Australia - Claremont Showgrounds (Big Day Out Festival)
02-12 Jakarta, Indonesia - Tennis Indoor Senayan @ Jakarta Praise Community Church
02-16 Seoul, South Korea - Olympic Hall @ Olympic Park
02-19 Tokyo, Japan - Budokan
02-22 Tokyo, Japan - Budokan
02-25 Osaka, Japan - Castle Hall
02-28 Hong Kong, China, - Asiaworld Arena
03-02 Shanghai, China - Changning Arena
04-11 Manchester, England - Apollo
04-14 London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
04-17 London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
04-20 London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
04-22 Plymouth, England - Pavilions
04-25 Wolverhampton, England - Civic Hall
04-28 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Waterfront
05-01 Blackpool, England - Empress Ballroom
05-04 Sheffield, England - City Hall