The man, 32-year-old Dominick Giordano, has been following Branch to appearances and concerts and sending her letters and videos for the last several years. According to authorities, Giordano once lunged at Branch during an autograph-signing event. The singer had had a restraining order against Giordano after the incident, but it has since expired. Says Michelle's road manager, Joshua Scott, "[Giordano] used to get his way into meet-and-greets and private events somehow and would try to approach [Branch] and touch her and just really inappropriate stuff."

Lt. Jeff Johnston of the Sheboygan Police said, "He's been to her last several shows, but it caught her completely off-guard that he was in Sheboygan." When Branch spotted Giordano in the audience, she stopped her show to alert the venue's staff. An audience member at the Sheboygan show told the Associated Press, "Michelle Branch just said, 'Wait a second. There's a guy in the audience – striped shirt and glasses – can somebody check him out?' It left everyone just so confused, like, 'Is this a joke, part of the show?'" Michelle eventually continued on with her performance after Dominick ran off. He was eventually cited for disorderly conduct.