LOS ANGELES — An impromptu fan meetup for YouTube video creator Austin McBroom drew a crowd of hundreds to Rodeo Drive on Saturday, temporarily shutting down the street best known for its high-end stores and celebrity sightings.
McBroom on Instagram told fans to meet him on Rodeo Drive for a “pre-fight party” and a chance to win an autographed pair of boxing gloves ahead of his June match with fellow YouTuber and TikTok video creator Bryce Hall. Hundreds gathered, forcing the street closure between Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards from 4:50 to 6:19 p.m.
Between 350 and 500 people convened and about 30 police officers and 25 civilian support staff were dispatched to the area, said Sgt. Dale Drummond with the Beverly Hills Police Department. There were no arrests.
Video from McBroom’s social media accounts and footage posted on TikTok and Twitter show the crowd walking and at times running through the Beverly Hills shopping district with a Hall-themed piñata in tow.
Saturday’s event was tame, especially in comparison to the brawl that broke out two weeks ago between McBroom and Hall while promoting their upcoming celebrity boxing match at Fred Segal in West Hollywood. Video on social media shows Hall, who has nearly 20 million TikTok followers, throwing himself at McBroom, whose family has about 19 million YouTube followers. A crowd quickly surrounds the two as their teams pull them away from each other.
Their boxing match is slated to take place June 12 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
