Russ Responds To Backlash For Not Accepting A Fan Gift
Russ was on the Toronto stop of his Into The Wild Tour with special guests Big Sean and Sabrina Claudio at the Budweiser Stage on July 12 when he interrupted his performance to address somebody in the crowd trying to get his attention.
In a fan video shared on the internet, Russ slowly stops singing and voices his frustration with the audience. The fan being addressed was apparently trying to gift the "Losin Control" singer an "Indigenous medallion," but Russ wasn't interested based on how the entire interaction initially went down. "I can't lie, man. If I'm performing and you spent the whole show," Russ said frantically pointing to his hand, "what do you want me to do, stop the whole show?
Pacing around the stage, he continued, visibly frustrated. "It's like damn dog. I'm trying to perform, and you're spending the whole show trying to get me to look at some shit you're holding up the whole time. What do you want me to do, stop what I'm doing and say 'Hold on, everyone else, all 10,000 of y'all, wait; got to pay attention to this one person.' We've got to stop what I'm doing – we're all doing?"
"Dog, respect the people around you. You feel me? It's not just about you," Russ said as the crowd applauded.
"There's a crowd of 10,000 people out here, and you want me to stop entertaining them and pay attention to you. How you figure that, man? Get a grip, dog." Russ said, attempting to restart the performance, but cut it short and walked backstage. "That shit pissed me off. That shit blew my high." When he finally came back out, he performed his 2018 song "Some Time" to a cheering audience.
When people began to question Russ's reaction, and backlash began to brew, he responded with social media posts that brought a new perspective to whether these fan interactions are getting out of hand.
An X user replied to Russ, writing, "There's a video of you circulating refusing a cultural gift art gift," to which he replied with a video showing that particular fan allegedly got his attention by mimicking the gestures for a possible medical emergency.
In a follow-up post on July 13, Russ pushed back at the backlash and explained the situation from his perspective. "Let me make something clear that I thought the average person would understand just based off common respect but alas It's disrespectful to disrupt an artist's performance. Period. But especially by faking a medical emergency just to force a moment. That's what happened."
"I stopped the show out of genuine concern, only to realize it was a ploy to get my attention and show me a gift," he continued. "I didn't accept it because that's not showing love, that's hijacking the show. It disrespected me, the performance, and the fans who were there to be present with the music. What made it worse is someone from that group then moved down into the pit, disrupted the experience for other fans, and tried again to force the moment. That's when I said enough is enough."
"And now I'm being told I was disrespectful because the gift 'took a long time to make.' But here's what's wild lol I spent YEARS making this music. I spent TIME and INTENTION curating this show and this setlist," Russ said. "YOU CANT DEMAND RESPECT FOR YOUR TIME WHILE ACTIVELY DISRESPECTING MINE. If you truly support an artist, you support the art while it's happening. You don't interrupt it to center yourself. That's not support, that's entitlement. If someone really wanted to give me something out of love, they'd find a way to do it without disrupting what I'm there to do."
In a TikTok video shared a week ago, Russ explained in detail that he felt "gaslit" by the backlash painting him as problematic and doubled down on the idea that he was not in the wrong for speaking his mind and calling how the fan interaction played out in the middle of his performance. "You're not finna gaslit me and make me feel like an asshole because I got frustrated with y'all disrespect. That's not what's going to happen. I don't care how you slice it," he said.
After he spoke up against the backlash, a lot of people started siding with Russ because, with more context, his reaction made sense.
Whether it's water bottles, cellphones, or teddy bears being flung on stage or fans and paparazzi not respecting the personal space of celebrities, there's always a debate on how they should've handled themselves. It's refreshing to see an artist like Russ be steadfast in the aftermath because the entitlement in these interactions may go a bit too far.
I want to know your thoughts. What is the proper etiquette of being a fan at a concert? Was Russ fair in his reaction to it all?
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