Kesha Was Unknowingly Given A Real Butcher’s Knife For Her Lollapalooza Set After The Prop Knife Went Missing, And People Are Outraged

In her routine, Kesha mindlessly waves the blade around before pretending to stab her dancers — and she apparently had no idea that the prop had been replaced with a real knife.

By
Stephanie Soteriou
by Stephanie Soteriou

BuzzFeed Staff

On Thursday, Kesha helped kick off this year’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, Illinois, which saw over 100,000 music lovers descend on Grant Park.

Kesha performs on stage, holding a microphone, wearing a mesh top and short skirt. Her arm is raised as she engages with the audience
Josh Brasted / FilmMagic

Megan Thee Stallion and Hozier headlined day one of the festival, with Chappell Roan, Lizzy McAlpine, and Labrinth among the performers joining Kesha for sets earlier in the day.

Kesha herself took to the stage at around 6 p.m., and she impressed fans with an energetic performance that included her flaunting a butcher’s knife during her song “Backstabber.”

Kesha performs on stage, holding a knife. She has long, blonde hair and is dressed in edgy, grunge-style clothing with visible tattoos
Josh Brasted / FilmMagic

The singer mindlessly waved the large blade around during the routine before pretending to stab her dancers, with her and them covered in fake blood. 

But it turns out that everybody involved was actually unknowingly moments away from potential disaster, with Kesha revealing after the show that she had been given a real knife for her set after the prop knife went missing — and apparently, nobody even warned her.

Ke$ha performs on stage with a male dancer dressed in a metallic skirt. She holds a prop knife above her head
Josh Brasted / FilmMagic

Taking to X on Friday, the singer tweeted: “sooooo apparently the prop knife went missing and they replaced it with a real butcher knife stolen from the kitchen. and i didn’t know. till now. so watch that again….”

sooooo apparently the prop knife went missing and they replaced it with a real butcher knife stolen from the kitchen. and i didn’t know. till now. so watch that again….

— kesha (@KeshaRose) August 2, 2024
Twitter @KeshaRose / Via x.com

Needless to say, people have been left horrified by this revelation — with some taking to a pop culture Reddit forum to discuss Kesha’s tweet in more detail.

Kesha performs on stage, crouching with a knife. She wears a graphic tank top, metallic skirt, fishnet stockings, and Converse shoes
Josh Brasted / FilmMagic

One popular comment reads: “How do they opt for a REAL knife instead of having a back up prop knife?? Thank God nothing happened since the knife was the focal point of the song and part of the choreography was ‘stabbing at’ her backup dancers.”


“Yikes. Why wouldn’t you tell her!!” somebody else wrote. One more added: “That is so wild and unbelievably dangerous, considering part of the choreography is for her to ‘stab’ at her dancers 🫥”


“On top of stabbing at her dancers she's flailing it around in a hand that's wet with fake blood from the song before,” another user pointed out. “If that flew out of her hand and at her dancers or into the crowd.”


“That could have gone horribly wrong in so many ways,” somebody else agreed.

Others couldn’t help but compare the situation to the Alec Baldwin Rust tragedy. In 2021, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins tragically died after actor Alec discharged a prop gun on the Rust movie set, not realizing that it contained live rounds of ammunition.

Alec Baldwin is wearing glasses, a dark suit, and a striped tie while looking to the side
Pool / Getty Images

Earlier this year, the movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison for the incident. 


Assistant director Dave Halls previously pleaded guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon and received a suspended sentence and six months of probation. According to court documents, he is the one who greenlit the prop as safe to use and handed it to Alec without knowing that it was loaded. 


And last month, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed Alec’s criminal trial for involuntary manslaughter and said that it could not be filed again after it was revealed that police and prosecutors may have withheld evidence while presenting their case.

The top comment on the Reddit forum discussing Kesha’s tweet reads: “Have we not learned anything from the Rust case?”

Kesha performs on stage holding a knife, wearing a distressed outfit with rips and glitter paint accents
Josh Brasted / FilmMagic

“After the Alec Baldwin shit? Really???? I would fire every single one of them on the spot,” somebody else wrote.

One more commented: “What in the Rust armorer fuck is this? Did no one suggest this might be dangerous?”


Kesha has not publicly commented on the situation any further.

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