Man who punched woman in Bali surf lineup identified as Brazillian surfer JP Azevedo
Internet sleuths have identified a man who punched a female surfer, Sara Taylor, in a lineup in Bali, Indonesia as a Brazillian man named João Paulo “JP” Azevedo.
Azevedo attacked Taylor in the water at Bali’s Pandawa Beach after his friend drop in on her. After she left the wave, Azevedo paddled up behind Taylor and punched her hard in the head. It’s a shocking video, which you can see below.
On land, after the initial incident, the confrontation continued, with Azavedo also attacking Taylor’s friend, Charlotte “Charlie” McHarg, who was filming
What. A. Dick.
“After being dropped in on on my first wave, the guy’s friend punched me in the head and then after being confronted about hitting me, he attacked Charlie on the beach for filming him,” writes Taylor. “This is insane, does anyone know who they are?”
Taylor’s friend, skater Nora Vasconcellos, posted about the attack on Instagram, which is how we originally found out about it:
Numerous people chimed in to identify Azevedo, some reporting that has a history of nasty behavior in the water. Suffice it to say that Azevedo has ruined his reputation in the surf community. Even surf legend Kelly Slater chimed in on Instagram asking if anyone knew who he was so he could “be sent home where he belongs.” One can only hope that there are legal ramifications as well.
The police in Bali confirmed that Taylor and McHarg filed a police report about the incident, according to a Bali news website. The report was made to the South Kuta Police and Bali Water Police will handle the case.
Here is a photo of Azevedo taken during the confrontation on the beach.
An article on a Brazillian website, says Azevedo is from Espírito Santo, a state in southeastern Brazil known for its tropical beaches. He was a pro surfer, according to the website, and has lived in Bali since 2019.
The article, which dates to March 16, 2023, says he was making a surfing documentary focused on Indonesia, Tahiti, and Nazaré, Portugal. Here’s a post with him from Quebra Onda, a surfwear company he has promoted in the past.
In interviews with Brazillian news outlets, Azevedo claimed that he thought Taylor was a man, which of course doesn’t excuse him for attacking someone in the lineup, man or woman.
“I don’t know how the confusion actually started,” Azevedo told the Brazilian news site A Gazeta. “I saw her pushing my friend, I thought it was a man and I went to defend her. After I hit her, I saw that she was wearing a bra, I apologized and she didn’t accept it. When we were on the ground, she went to my car, took my board and started to break it. From then on I just defended myself.”
Yeah, gonna call bullshit on that.
He continued to attack them violently on land, after the initial incident. It also appears that he may have a history of brutal attacks on women.
The day after Taylor and McHarg were attacked, a woman named Carol Braga posted on Instagram that Azevedo attacked her as well. She said she dated Azevedo in 2018 and 2019 but broke up with him after he beat her so brutally that she ended up in the hospital with head trauma.
“I ended up isolating myself for almost 3 months in a guesthouse in Rio, until the physical marks came out,” she wrote. “But those of the heart… those still last.”
After hearing about the attack on Taylor and McHarg, Braga says she felt compelled to tell her story.
In a video that circulated on WhatsApp and eventually made its way to YouTube (see below), Azavedo apologizes but also claims that the video shared by Taylor and McHarg doesn’t tell the whole story. He claims he was hit in the face in the lineup (presumably by Taylor) before he punched her, although in another interview he said she splashed water in his face. He also claims the women took his surfboard back on land which is why he ended up fighting them.
“Yesterday’s disastrous event occurred because of a disagreement where I was also attacked, disrespected and insulted by the couple, even though I was convinced that nothing justifies my attitude,” Azavedo says. “What I would like is for the entire video to be released, without editing, so that everyone can understand what actually happened.”
Coming from someone who clearly punched Taylor in the head and is accused by another of a brutal assault, we’re highly skeptical of his account, but felt it needs to be included here.
The other guy has been identified as Adriano Portela, pictured below. Portela issued the following apology on Instagram:
“I have not hit our touched anyone. I spoke and acted with anger and disrespect. I’m deeply ashamed and sorry for how I acted. I got pushed out of the wave as you can see in the video posted. Unfortunately after that a punch was thrown in the water, however not by me and I was not involved in it happening. I continued surfing and noticed a fight between the girl who pushed me out of the wave, her girlfriend and my friend who threw the punch in the water. I swam out of the water to see what was happening and not fully understanding what had happened. I lost my temper and spoke with disrespect towards the girls and acted in a disgusting way that I’m very ashamed of. I have not touched or hit anyone inside or outside the water. The video is not in full and does not show everything that happened. My behavior was wrong and I should not have spoken to the girls the way I did. Things got heated and I lost my temper. Nothing will excuse or make that type of behavior right. I have reached out to the girls to apologize and try to make amends. Thank you and I’m sincerely sorry for what happened.”
It’s worth noting that he doesn’t acknowledge that he was “pushed” off the wave after dropping in on Taylor, which caused them to collide with one another (or at least that’s how it looks in the video). Also, Portela seems to be trying to physically intimidate them once he is out of the water – more than just “speaking with disrespect.”
That said, at least he expressed contrition for his behavior, which is more than can be said for Azevedo.
Here are some photos of him from the incident:
It’s not really skating-related, but posting to help add the chorus trying to bring these guys to justice. People like this can’t be let off the hook for violence.
