The premiere of Lil Nas X’s highly anticipated documentary at Toronto International Film Festival was delayed on Saturday after a bomb threat was uttered by a “passerby.”
On Monday morning following the occurrence over the weekend, TheGrio reached out to the Toronto Police Service. A spokesperson told us that Saturday evening, “a passerby uttered a threat towards private security. Out of an abundance of caution, Toronto Police and private security swept the scene and cleared the scene within twenty minutes.”
The original Variety report, however, included a source claiming the threat, “specifically targeted the rapper for being a Black queer artist.” When talking to theGrio, the Toronto Police Service spokesperson told us the threat was “general and did not target any one person.”
Lil Nas X’s documentary, “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero,” was set to premiere at 10 p.m., when the proceedings were suddenly forced to halt, per Variety. After the project’s directors Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel and editor Andrew Morrow hit the red carpet, Lil Nas X was set to follow them, when news of the threat halted proceedings.
Nas’ carpet appearance was delayed 20 minutes until the threat was determined to be “not credible,” per the report. Nas X joined his directors on the carpet and the screening began at 10:30 p.m.
Writer Brooke Obie, who attended the screening, told us the audience was not made aware of the threat and found out about it when reading the Variety report the next day. “It was never mentioned,” she continued. “Nobody heard anything about it until it was in the report the next day.” Obie referred to the delay as “uncharacteristic,” saying that the “screenings work like clockwork” at TIFF.
“I had heard that Lil Nas X was not as forthcoming on the red carpet, but we chalked it up to him probably being nervous or something like that,” Obie added. “But they did a Q&A afterwards and onstage he was very open, cracking jokes and everything.”
The film is described as “a joyous immersion in the world of a game-changing artist and the fans who’ve joined him in that change,” fusing concert clips, behind-the-scenes footage and even pre-fame video of the Grammy Award-winning artist.
Nas X opened up about his decision to make the revealing documentary in the previously mentioned Q&A, per Yahoo Entertainment. “To be honest, I was like, ‘I don’t want to do this at all; this is a terrible idea,’” he reportedly said on stage. “But then I was like, ‘F*** it, let’s do it anyway.’ I hate people knowing about my life because I can’t keep my funny persona. Now people know I’m all serious. … I’m glad I did it.”
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