Guys, we might need to shut down live shows until we figure out what the hell is going on, because it’s getting weird. Earlier this month, Albanian pop stars appeared to be under siege as both Bebe Rexha and Ava Max both suffered physical attacks on stage while performing. This latest incident during a Pink concert, while less violent, nonetheless feels part and parcel with the current trend of supposed fans harassing artists at their own shows.
In video from the concert (below), Pink can be seen kneeling down to pick up a small package mid-song. “Is this your mom?” she nervously questions someone in the crowd. “I don’t know how I feel about this!” She then shuffles forward and hides the baggy of ashes (!!!) behind an amp, looking visibly disturbed.
Of course, wildly inappropriate fan behavior is not a new phenomenon. Just ask Charli XCX, who had a viral moment based on being bombarded by bizarre fan requests. Among the items brought to meet and greets for Charli to sign in 2019 included bottles of poppers and an anal douche. One fan infamously posed with the pop star and—relevantly—a small key chain of his mother’s ashes.
If you’re wondering why someone would do such a thing, the fan explained it to Paper Magazine. “There are two reasons why I asked Charli to take the picture. One, I wanted to do something with my mom. I wanted to spend time with her, bring her along with me,” he said. “And also I just thought it would be silly. I’m someone who uses humor to cope a lot, and I thought it would be a funny thing, Charli with my mom, but it’s not my mom, it’s just this keychain that has some of her ashes in it.” The fan added that Charli was “shocked and surprised” by the request, “But she didn’t seem horribly bothered.”
Perhaps the fan who threw the ashes at P!nk also thought it would be funny (that’s the reason the person who assaulted Bebe Rexha gave for chucking his phone at her face too). But fans should possibly stop to question whether what’s funny to them will also be funny to the person on stage (and also whether that supposedly funny thing might get them charged with assault).
Anecdotally, some concertgoers have been grumbling online about a decline in concert etiquette in recent years. Bad behavior includes lots of filming on phones, acting aggressively, and yeah, throwing shit. Some attribute this to people forgetting how to behave post-COVID, while others point to social media and the desire to capture viral moments overriding common sense. The desire for virality, on top of a hunger for attention from an idol, has certainly motivated people to act in outrageous ways.
Regardless of the reasons, incidents like this may well serve only to alienate artists from fans. Miley Cyrus, for one, cited a feeling of a lack of safety as one of the reasons she’s uninterested in touring at present. Would you want to keep having meet and greets if you knew someone was going to shove their anal douche in your hands? Or hold a concert if you knew someone was going to throw an unidentified powdery substance on stage? Bottom line: if you’re going to a show, please be cool, and if you want to bring your mother’s ashes along, maybe keep them to yourself.