Sombr has responded to criticism he received from a concertgoer who apparently “hated” his show at Anthem in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 13, so much so that she recorded a nearly nine-minute TikTok video, which has since gone viral.
“I thought I was chronically online, but it’s just come to my attention that there’s a TikTok drama going around because a 25-year-old attended my concert and was basically complaining that there were too many tweens there, I was making too many brain-rot jokes, and she just thought it was a cringe concert,” Sombr began in his response.
Sombr’s response came a few days after the fan posted her video, in which the 25-year-old began by cautioning anyone planning to attend an upcoming show of his to “not spend your money on a Sombr concert.” She went on to explain that while attending his Washington, D.C. show, she was shocked to find his fanbase was primarily comprised of “tweens,” said she did not enjoy his jokes, and described a segment of the concert called the “Sombr Dating Show,” where he brought audience members onstage to call their exes. She also criticized him, claiming he said “super vulgar stuff about getting his dick sucked” while on stage, and asked his fans to “bark for me” — behavior she felt was inappropriate given his young audience.
She added, “It just doesn’t seem like he knows how to entertain. He’s maybe too young. Maybe he has to grow into it. I don’t know. Dancing was terrible, singing was terrible.”
While she referred to the experience as “a nightmare,” she admitted that the other members of the audience appeared to love it, with one fan apparently saying, “This is my generation’s David Bowie.” She then said, “I’m so sorry, slender man? We’re picking him, we’re picking the weird dancing dude?” whom she likened to Napoleon Dynamite and added that the show was “cringe.”
In his response, Sombr accused her of “body shaming” him, saying that “it’s kind of started a massive body shaming hate train directed towards me on a lot of videos of me on the internet right now.”
He went on to say, “I totally respect people having opinions, but I am a 20-year-old artist, freshly 20. And if you’re 25 years old and you’re going to come to my concert and not expect people younger than you to be there, when I, the artist, am five years younger than you, it’s just a skill issue.”
As far as his jokes, Sombr said that people who go to his concerts would be familiar with his online presence, adding, “I’ve never uttered a serious word in my life.” Plus, he said he spends “five minutes” making jokes at his shows, while the rest is music.
“Live a little, enjoy life,” he continued. “Every age, sex, sexuality, gender, race: Everyone is welcome in my concert, ad I mean everyone. You guys need to find problematic people to hate on, because I am just existing.”
Sombr’s debut album, I Barely Know Her — featuring hits “Back to Friends” and “12 to 12,” both of which he performed at the VMAs — arrived in August. Since his album dropped, his tour, which runs through November, has sold out, and he’s slated as the Saturday Night Live musical guest with host Nikki Glaser on Nov. 8.