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Dear Gays, Please Don’t Throw Things At Artists On Stage
Lil Nas X the latest singer to have to dodge a strange object being thrown at him while performing.
OK gays, let’s talk. It’s time to end a growing trend — we’d like to say before someone gets hurt, but it’s already too late for that.
We are, of course, talking about throwing things on stage to/at the artists we love and who love us back. The latest singer to have something thrown at them on stage is Lil Nas X, who had a sex toy lobbed towards him while he was performing at his set at the European Lollapalooza in Stockholm, Sweden on Saturday.
The singer picked up the sex toy, which mimicked a vagina, and joked “Who threw them p—y onstage?” before continuing his show.
Is it a funny moment? We guess. Lil Nas X certainly took it in stride. But it’s part of a string of similar incidents that have ranged from weird to actually dangerous.
Last weekend, Pink was performing at the British Summer Time Festival in London when a fan threw a mysterious bag onto the stage. The “Raise Your Glass’’ singer inspected it and realized it was ashes. “Is this your mom?” she asked, before saying “I don’t know how I feel about this” and continuing her performance.
While that was certainly unsettling, not everyone has been as lucky as Pink and Lil Nas X and could just laugh off the experience. Kelsea Ballerini was actually struck by an unidentified object thrown at her by a fan during a concert in Boise, Idaho in late June. While she was apparently uninjured, she implored her fans not to throw things at her before carrying on with the performance.
The most upsetting incident of all occurred last month when Bebe Rexha was injured by a fan who threw a mobile phone at the singer’s face, striking her and leaving a gash above her eye. The “I’m Good (Blue)” collapsed when she was hit and required stitches.
In this case, the assailant was identified, arrested, and charged with assault. Rexha returned to the stage yesterday in Los Angeles wearing protective eye gear.
To be clear, it’s not known if these items were thrown by members of our community, but we can make sure that we aren’t the ones participating in this behavior — and are shutting it down when we see the potential for it to happen. It’s not cute and it’s not funny. We get it, seeing Mother onstage is exciting and overwhelming for any fan, but that doesn’t make this behavior OK. Let’s do better and protect the queens we love and who, importantly, love and support us back.
Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Dread Central, Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq. She's a GALECA member and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.
Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Dread Central, Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq. She's a GALECA member and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.
