Adele praised for confronting anti-pride heckler during concert
During the Saturday night show of her "Weekends With Adele" residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the award-winning artist took aim at a homophobic audience member who yelled: "Pride sucks."
In footage circulating on social media, the singer clapped back: “Did you come to my fucking show and just say that Pride sucks? Are you fucking stupid? Don’t be so fucking ridiculous.”
The British Grammy Award winner added: “If you have nothing nice to say, shut up, alright?”
Saturday was 1 June, which marked the first day of Pride Month, the annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. Adele has long been vocal in her support for the LGBT+ community and Pride.
After the massacre that killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016, she dedicated a show in Belgium to people in the city and at the club on the night of the attack.
Fans have heaped praise on the musician for her recent comments.
This is not the first time that Adele has spoken out during her “Weekends With Adele” residency. Last year, she took a moment to address the trend of fans throwing objects on stage at artists.
“Have you noticed how people are like, forgetting fucking show etiquette at the moment? People just throwing shit on stage, have you seen them?” she said. “I fucking dare you. Dare you to throw something at me and I’ll fucking kill you.”
Her onstage rant may have been tongue-in-cheek, but cases of concertgoers launching projectiles at artists have become increasingly visible lately. Crowd management experts have noted an increase in aggressive behaviour at live events, including concerts and sports matches, since the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns were lifted, said Eric Stuart, chair of the Global Crowd Management Alliance.
"When we speak with our colleagues around the world, in Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada, Ireland, everybody's saying the same thing," Stuart told Euronews Culture.
"There is a definite change in people's behaviour, there's a lot less tolerance, a lot less patience, a lot more aggression. The phrase that is used most frequently is a sense of entitlement."
“Weekends With Adele” began in November 2022 and continues through November 2024 after being extended multiple times. The singer also announced she would play in Europe for the first time since 2016, with 10 one-off shows in Munich, Germany, which will take place in August.
