"No way folks are blaming her for this"— Fans defend Saweetie over Chicago concert stampede fiasco

On Sunday, June 23, singer and rapper Saweetie performed at the Vegandale Festival in Grant Park, Chicago. However, midway through her show, an altercation broke out in the audience.

The video of the incident has now gone viral. In it, Saweetie can also be seen stopping her performance, asking the DJ to pause the music, and addressing the crowd, saying:

“I know y’all ain’t doing what I think y’all doing. Is everybody safe?”

Unfortunately, before she could finish her sentences, people began frantically dispersing from the arena, resulting in a stampede.

In the wake of this, netizens have shared their diverse opinions on social media platforms. Some have blamed the 30-year-old songstress for the incident. According to them, addressing the concertgoers and calling off her show midway led to chaos. Others have come to her defense, saying the sudden dispersal was not her fault.

For instance, Instagram user @coopcancook commented on the video of the incident shared by The Shade Room and wrote:

“No way folks are blaming her for this. Smh.”

A person defending the rapper. (Image via Instagram/ coopcancook)

Many extended their support to the American rapper and further defended her on X.

“Chicago people tryna blame Saweetie for what happened in crazy asf,” an individual wrote.

“We scared by girl @Saweetie off the stage. I hate y’all sometimes,” another individual wrote.

“S/O to @Saweetie for surveying the scene and ensuring the safety of the crowd. Stand up more. I’d definitely go to a show knowing you care for your fans,” a netizen wrote.

“Leave her alone, omg,” one netizen wrote.

Meanwhile, some others called out the Icy Girl hitmaker and accused her of starting the stampede.

“This is all Saaweetie fault. Why would you say on the stage in Chicago ‘I know y’all not doing what I think y’all doing. Mfs assumed shooting and it was a stampede,” a person wrote.

“@Saweetie don’t ever come back to Chicago babe. You caused us wayyyy too much harm than needed,” another person wrote.

“Now @Saweetie why would you scare Chicago like that?” one person asked.

“Bro, I was there, she just said the wrong thing and we don’t play like that in Chicago. Everything was straight at the end of the day,” a netizen wrote.

Reportedly, there were rumors that there was a shooting at the venue. However, many attendees dismissed it.

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Saweetie issues a response to backlash

On Sunday night, after her performance was over, Saweetie took to X and expressed her concern for the concertgoers.

“Hope everyone got home safe tonight. That crowd looked crazy," the rapper wrote.

However, the next day, an X user with the handle @itsmyworld_ndd accused her of sabotaging the show and inciting unnecessary fear among the festival goers.

“Talking about the crowd looked crazy lol. It was a festival! Straight. Don’t bring your a*s back to Chicago; you’ve done enough… It was babies out there getting trampled on for nothing. Then gone come back tb, ‘Imma tell y’all what my type is.’ We dgaf at this point,” the person wrote.

In response, the Tap In singer wrote:

“Well… the crowd did look crazy, which is why I hope everyone got home safe. Also, I could’ve went home after the fight broke out, but I stayed, waited, & after 2 chains performed. I went back on stage to finish my set bc I care…”

The NANi singer added that the netizen didn’t clearly like her and asked her why she bothered to stay till the end of her set when the festival was over.

Following her show in Chicago, the Grammy-nominated artist is scheduled to appear at Angie’s Summer BBQ on July 13 alongside Normani, Maiya The Don, 41, Connie Diamond, and Honey Bxby, among others.