A clash of musical genres has seen police warn punk and indie rockers over their harassment of pop-classical singer Yulia and her husband-manager, Glyn MacLean.
A forum on indie-rock record label Out of Kilter's website has attacked the pair for two weeks with message-board posters saying they would "spike Yulia's drink" and calling her a "mail-order retard", referring to her Russian heritage.
A poster to the punk forum website Punkas.com has been threatened with charges of criminal nuisance and criminal harassment after posts suggesting users "escalate" their attacks.
Yulia's home address was published on the site, and graphic sexual comments were made.
The Out of Kilter Records owner, and the moderator of the website, 19-year-old Will Edmonds, is alleged to have harassed the singer at her home in the middle of the night by telephone and to have "fuelled the fire" on his website.
Edmonds told The Press it was a case of harmless teenage pranks gone too far.
Punkas removed its offensive material after being contacted by police, and Out of Kilter removed its anti-Yulia thread after being contacted by The Press late last week.
Sergeant Vaughan Mead, of the Wellington police, said some "very inappropriate" comments on Punkas "really went further than making a comment about her music".
"Fun's fun but there is a limit," he said.
MacLean said the phone calls were the last straw and the couple took the matter to police last Wednesday.
Two weeks ago, a forum on Out of Kilter's website began to mock Yulia and her appearance on several television shows.
MacLean responded by posting messages that included the statement: "We own the ONLY company in NZ that licenses music directly in Hollywood and chances are that your record label may one day approach us to license you.
"We are also a publishing company and on (the) board of some companies that might ultimately make a decision about your career."
The controversy spilt over to the punk music forum Punkas.
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