Halsey addresses fans who left gig during abortion rights speech

Singer spoke about Roe v Wade during a recent Phoenix show

Thursday 30 June 2022 07:45 BST

Halsey shuts down heckler during show

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Halsey has responded after fans reportedly walked out of their recent concert in Phoenix during a speech they gave about abortion rights.

On Sunday (26 June), Halsey addressed her audience with a speech that encouraged them to take a stance on reproductive rights following the US Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v Wade.

They concluded with a chant, in which Halsey yelled “my body” and the audience replied “my choice”.

On Friday (24 June), the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of a Mississippi law that outlaws abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy while also overturning key precedents established by the 1973 decision in Roe v Wade.

One person on Twitter has since claimed that a number of Halsey’s fans left the Phoenix venue during the singer’s speech about abortion.

“The amount of people who just walked out of the Halsey concert after ‘Nightmare’ when she spoke about abortion was sickening. Fight for what is right,” they tweeted.

Halsey – who announced their decision to use she/they pronouns in March – responded, stating: “Downside of doing outdoor venues: no door to hit them on the way out.”

Ahead of their show on Sunday (26 June), Halsey took to social media to share their take on the Supreme Court’s decision.

“I’m running out of ways to word and frame the severity of the impact that fundamentalism has on our country,” they said, adding that they “need a little bit of time to speak to some people with more authority and experience than me and gather my thoughts”.

“I don’t want to just contribute to antagonistic noise,” they continued. “I’m just defeated at the moment.”

Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music

At their recent Phoenix show, Halsey shared a video during their performance of the 2019 track “Nightmare”.

The slideshow read: “This catastrophic attack on bodily autonomy will only encourage more dangerous legislation, impacting vulnerable communities the most.

“Don’t wait for revolutionaries to change the world. Be the revolutionaries. No one is coming to do the work for us. The work is ours and we have to do it now.”

A number of stars such as Olivia Rodrigo, Kendrick Lamar and Phoebe Bridgers referenced the ruling during their recent Glastonbury sets.

Recently, Stranger Things star Maya Hawke said that she “wouldn’t exist” if her mother Uma Thurman had not gotten an abortion as a teenager.