Lil Nas X hasn’t been able to enjoy the advanced buzz around his documentary, Long Live Montero, thanks to a bomb threat made against him at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Variety was the first to report that the threat happened on Saturday (September 9), and it came in as the “Montero” rapper was about to walk the red carpet at the premiere. A source close to the situation told Variety that the threat was directed at Lil Nas X due to his Blackness and his sexuality, specifically targeting him as a Black queer artist. However, representatives for TIFF had a different take.
“Earlier this evening, we were made aware by the Toronto Police Service of an investigation in the vicinity of the red carpet for the ‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’ screening,” said a spokesperson for the Toronto International Film Festival, to Variety. “Our standard security measures remained in place during this time and the screening commenced with a slight delay. To our knowledge, this was a general threat and not directed at the film or the artist.”
While Lil Nas X has now ventured into the world of documentary filmmaking, he wasn’t always keen on hopping in front of the camera as a subject — or an actor.
Back in 2021, during a telling cover story with Variety for their Young Hollywood issue, Lil Nas X revealed he was offered a role on Drake’s HBO hit show Euphoria. Unfortunately, the “Old Town Road” rapper had to choose between starring in the show or working on his then upcoming album Montero, and Lil Nas X chose the latter.
“I was actually going to do ‘Euphoria,’ but I didn’t want to take time from finishing my album,” he said. “It was going to be great.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the 22-year-old explained he wants to follow in the steps of artists such as Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, who have successfully crossed over into the film space.
“Honestly, I want to dabble around in a lot of things like I do in music,” he said, before listing some movies he’d like to do. “A Star is Born. Let’s also do a Grown Ups 2. Let’s do an Obsessed with Beyoncé. Maybe we claim the sequel. We do the gay version of Obsessed.”