Peruvian television host Giovanna Valcárcel has denied responsibility for the early exit of salsa singer Daniela Darcourt from the stage at the Peru Salsa All Stars festival in Barcelona, saying she had no power over the event’s programming.
A video that spread widely on social media showed Valcárcel approaching Darcourt while the singer was performing the song Adiós amor, moments before the production stopped the show. Many users online blamed Valcárcel, who was serving as the festival’s emcee, for having asked Darcourt to leave the stage.
Valcárcel responded through her social media accounts, rejecting that version of events. She said she had no authority to put anyone on or take anyone off a stage, but added that she has friends and acts out of genuine goodwill, and that if she has to look after her people, she does. She also expressed long-standing admiration for Darcourt, saying that Darcourt herself knows it, as do regular listeners of her radio program.
In a further message, Valcárcel said she was grateful for the opportunity and for the values instilled in her at home.
Darcourt Points to Organizers
Darcourt also spoke out after the incident, directing her criticism at the festival’s organizers rather than at Valcárcel. She said she had always arrived on time but that the organizers had changed her schedule and that of other performers, cutting their shows at will, which she described as a total lack of disrespect. She said her concern was the audience, not a promoter who does not know what they are doing.
Darcourt had signaled her frustration the day before the Barcelona date. At a show in Rome on July 27, she told the crowd she had been left feeling aggrieved, and at the Barcelona performance on July 28 she declared she would not allow anyone to remove her from the stage before she was ready.