No Way In Norway
The musician accidentally shut down part of the massive underground road system running beneath Norway’s capital
Lil Nas X inadvertently flouted Norwegian traffic laws when he rode an electric scooter through Oslo’s massive downtown tunnel system late Monday, July 11.
The musician was one of four Americans stopped for scooting along the Festning tunnel, which is part of a giant underground road system known as the Opera Tunnel. On Twitter, the Oslo police wrote (via Google Translate), “Four people on scooters have lost their way into the Festning tunnel. They have used large parts of the roadway,” causing the road traffic center to close several lanes so the group could be safely led out. No arrests were made, and no charges were filed.
Apparently, Lil Nas X and co. had followed GPS directions into the tunnel — which makes them not even the first foreign tourists to accidentally steer their e-scooters where they don’t belong. Back in 2019, per The Associated Press, a man similarly followed a Google Maps route into the Opera Tunnel complex and had to be escorted out. (According to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration website, “it is forbidden” to ride an e-scooter on motorways or roads where bikes are banned, and that includes many tunnels.)
In quintessential Lil Nas X fashion, the musician posted through the minor ordeal. On Instagram, he shared a few photos from inside the tunnel, including one that featured the caption, “about to go to jail in Norway.” A few pics later, however, he was posing with two cops and quipping, “nvm they fuck wit my music.”
Lil Nas X is currently in Norway for a performance at the Slottsffell festival later this week. He has a handful of other European festival dates scheduled for this summer as he brings his Montero era to a close.