Kesha says prop blade was switched for ‘real butcher knife’ on stage without her knowing

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Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

Kesha has revealed that a prop blade was swapped with a real butcher’s knife during a recent live performance.

The 37-year-old singer was performing her song “Backstabber” at Lollapalooza in Chicago last week, and was told about the switch only after she’d finished.

Originally released in 2010 on her debut album, Animal, the song hits out at a betraying friend with “loose lips” and “jealousy”. Singing the angsty lyrics with a knife in hand, she is seen spinning the sharp blade and brandishing it freely about the stage, as fake blood drips down her arms.

“Sooooo apparently the prop knife went missing and they replaced it with a real butcher knife stolen from the kitchen. And I didn’t know. Till now,” she wrote in a post on X/Twitter, shortly after she finished her set earlier in the evening, on Thursday (1 August).

“So watch that again...” she added.

Many on social media reacted to the revelation, calling it “insane” and speculating on all the scenarios that could have occurred.

“Kesha not knowing her ‘prop’ was a real knife because they didn’t tell her is actually insane,” wrote one person. “Like imagine she threw that into the crowd thinking some fan would cherish it forever and BOOM someone’s lost an eye.”

Others called the switch “unprofessional” as one person added: “Glad you are OK Kesha! Definitely next time have something [else], make sure it doesn’t happen again! Love You!”

One fan shared a gif of Britney Spears dancing with knives, while another wrote: “It’s giving Britney.” One commenter simply posted a picture of Alec Baldwin, hinting at the tragedy caused by a loaded gun on the set of his movie, Rust.

Some demanded an investigation as they wrote: “And if you had decided to improvise??? An inquiry should be put in with your team and someone should be held accountable. That’s sooooo bad.”

The song, which Kesha told Billboard is about a former friend who stole her car and talked about her behind her back, was written along with British artist David Gamson, member of the band Scritti Politti.

“I had a writing appointment in Long Beach [in California],” she said at the time. “I got there and I was like, ‘We should write a song about this girl.’ The line in the song is, ‘Jeanie, why you gotta tell the secrets about my sex life?’ I write how people would talk over a drink.”