Russ is now an international phenom. On Friday night, he performed a sold-out show in Saudia Arabia's capital of Riyadh as part of a music festival that lasts from October to December. Unfortunately, this milestone was slightly spoiled by a scandal that followed.
During an energetic performance of his song "Too Many", a fan threw her bra onstage and Russ, as expected, began enthusiastically twirling it around. Once the song was finished, the 27-year-old artist held up the undergarment like a trophy as he walked around the stage, thanking the 20,000-person crowd for their support.
While the Saudi fans are seen going bonkers for Russ in footage from the show, he received backlash afterwards once his bra-twirling made it onto social media. In the moment, Russ did not consider the conservation cultural codes of the country in which he was performing. According to Alba Waba, several tweets in Arabic complained that Russ' move was disrespectful to his hosts. "Thank you Russ, for coming here and shitting over our culture, religion and traditions, you!" wrote one person. "Was it so hard for him to just ignore the bra and actually just respect the country’s or the people’s culture? it’s very unacceptable," wrote another.
Some expressed their fear that this incident reflects poorly on the kingdom's recent decision to legalize public and mixed-sex concerts. "A woman threw her bra at the stage during a russ concert in riyadh,,,, pls i just KNOW i'm never going to be allowed to go to any concert the second my dad sees this trending," a tweet read.
Russ has yet to comment on the controversy.
