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Yesterday I wrote about Bebe Rexha getting harassed and body-shamed because of an outfit that she chose to wear during a performance on Ellen’s show. Today’s story of a singer who got harassed is about Maggie Rogers. Maggie was performing in Austin when two dudes decided it would be fantastic to catcall her, because of course they did. Maggie isn’t having it, though:

Maggie Rogers is making it loud and clear that at her shows “there is no space for harassment or disrespect or degradation of any kind.”

On Saturday night, during her ACL Live performance at the Moody Theater in Austin, two men in the crowd interrupted her acoustic performance of her hit song “Alaska” to catcall the 25-year-old singer.

One of the men had yelled for Rogers to “take your top off” while another concertgoer also yelled, “you cute though.”

[From E!]

Maggie posted a message to Instagram about the incident, two screenshots of a Note on her iPhone. The text reads:

every night before the alaska acoustic encore, i speak about gratitude and growth and change. it’s the most vulnerable part of the set. just me and a guitar before i say goodnight.

last night, in the middle of this speech a man yelled “take your top off.” another joined in and yelled “you cute though”.

i was stunned. furious. fuming. confused. and also – on a really basic level – it really hurt my feelings.

i step on stage every night and give every part of me. and my community shows up every night and together, we create a safe space to amplify each other. to allow release. there’s a deep amount of trust there.

i step on stage every night with a deep reverence for the stage, my craft, and the privilege that is making music for my job. i’ve been writing and producing music for 10 years – my body is my greatest tool for communicating that work.

i want to use this moment to be very very clear. there is no space for harassment or disrespect or degradation of any kind at my show.

be kind to each other out there.
xx
M

[From Maggie Rogers’ Instagram]

I was not familiar with Maggie or her work, but now I’m definitely going to seek her out. This is such a beautiful and powerful note. It’s awful that Maggie was harassed and disrespected, period, of course. But her post clearly explains how important performing is to her, and how she feels safe on stage, and so how that trust was violated by a member of the community that she respects while she was doing something that she loves.

Elaine Welteroth, who is the former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue and a Project Runway judge, commented on Maggie’s post that she was “sorry” that Maggie had this experience and that it shouldn’t have happened. I agree. I’m sitting here cheering Maggie for speaking up, but am disgusted that she had to do it in the first place. It would be great to find those two guys and ban them permanently from the venue: If you insist on being an a-hole and harassing a performer at a venue, there’s no reason why you should be allowed to return to that space to potentially harass someone else. But…I’m sure they both will do just that at some point.

Photos credit: WENN, Getty and Avalon.red