Kesha Says Prop Knife Was Switched With a Real One at Lollapalooza Without Her Knowing

Kesha was dangerously close to becoming a literal “Backstabber” while performing the song at her Lollapalooza set, something she didn’t even realize until afterward. According to the pop star, her prop knife was switched out for a real blade before she went onstage Thursday night — not that anyone told her about it.

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

Billboard has reached out to Kesha’s reps and Lollapalooza for comment.

The knife in question appeared midway through the musician’s set in Chicago, as captured in videos from her performance of “Backstabber.” As she sang the Animal deep cut (no pun intended), Kesha swung the prop around, pointed it at the audience and twirled it in circles, apparently not realizing that she was holding an actual blade.

During her set, the California native also performed her new single “Joyride,” which fittingly dropped on the Fourth of July as it marked her first release as an independent artist, having completed her contract with Kemosabe Records in December. She also called out former president Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate JD Vance while on stage, according to fans on social media. Two days prior, she’d tweeted, “bring your middle fingers lolla, f–k u jd Vance.”

Kesha also put the Ohio senator on blast while on her way to LAX last week, calling his comments about the Democratic party being made up of “childless cat ladies” sexist. “Booooo! F–k that man,” she added to a photographer at the time, according to the video obtained by TMZ. “That’s all I have to say. F–k them all.”

See Kesha’s tweet about the knife incident below.