Halsey calls out fans who walked out of gig over abortion speech
Halsey is politically active and has encouraged their fans to speak out against abortion bans. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Halsey has addressed fans who walked out of their concert after they spoke out against the US Supreme Court overturning abortion rights.
The singer delivered an emphatic speech calling onfans to fight for reproductive rights following the scrapping of Roe v Wade during a gig on Sunday (26 June) in Phoenix, Arizona.
Halsey told the 20,000-strong crowd: “This has been happening for a very long f**king time.
“I know that we want to sit at home and we want to wait for some revolutionary to come along, to make a difference, but no one is f**king coming.”
She added: “Nobody is f**king coming. It is up to every single one of you, myself, every single person in this building to do our f**king part to protect bodily autonomy and bodily integrity. To protect medical privacy.”
As fans cheered, Halsey began chanting “my body”, with the audience shouting back “my choice”.
But according to one concert-goer, not all of their fans were thrilled about Halsey’s messaging.
“The amount of people who just walked out of the Halsey concert after ‘Nightmare’ when she spoke about abortion was sickening. Fight for what is right,” the fan tweeted.
Halsey was less than impressed.
“Downside of doing outdoor venues: no door to hit them on the way out,” she tweeted on Tuesday (28 June).
downside of doing outdoor venues: no door to hit them on the way out 👋🏼 https://t.co/qc8q8mshd9
— h (@halsey) June 28, 2022
A frustrated Halsey hit out at fans who don’t want to hear an artist’s views.
“The ‘people pay to see you sing not hear your views’ argument is so dumb. No, you paid to see me use a stage as a form of expression in the manner that I choose,” they said.
“Sorry, you lack the critical thinking to realise that the rhetorical power of music doesn’t always serve your escapism.
Halsey added: “Honoured to have my audience. Proud they cultivate a space where emotion and action meet. Love doing what I do. And expect me to always tell the truth when I get up there. Show must go on.”
During thee concert, Halsey performed “Nightmare” as a slideshow on the stage read: “This catastrophic attack on bodily autonomy will only encourage more dangerous legislation, impacting vulnerable communities the most.
“Don’t wait for revolutionaries to change the world. Be the revolutionaries. No one is coming to do the work for us. The work is ours and we have to do it now.”
Halsey is among the many critics of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, a victory of the religious right that stripped people of the constitutional right to an abortion.
Like Halsey, Pink said she could not care less if people don’t agree with her views on reproductive rights and beyond.
“Let’s be clear: if you believe the government belongs in a woman’s uterus, a gay person’s business or marriage, or that racism is okay – THEN PLEASE IN THE NAME OF YOUR LORD NEVER F***KING LISTEN TO MY MUSIC AGAIN. AND ALSO F**K RIGHT OFF,” she tweeted.
“We good?”
