(NEXSTAR) – It’s not unheard of for concertgoers to toss flowers or even their undergarments on the stage for their favorite performer. But when someone spits at the singer? That sends a different message entirely.
Country artist Lainey Wilson, the Country Music Association’s most recent recipient of the Entertainer of the Year award, revealed during a recent appearance on “Taste of Country Nights” that an attendee at one of her 2023 concerts pulled an especially gross move while she was performing.
“We were just on a club tour, somebody spit on me on stage,” Wilson said, admitting that she “thought about getting down [in the audience] and finding whoever it was.”
“But I didn’t. I kept rolling. I just kept rolling,” she said.
The singer-songwriter shared the story after the radio show’s host, Evan Paul, asked whether she’d even been confronted by a critical fan. He recounted a story told to him by country artist Hardy, who once said someone stuffed a note reading “Quit!” into his tip jar.
Wilson said her spitty incident left her wondering why anyone would pay money to attend her show — especially one she was headlining — if they didn’t plan to enjoy it.
“But also, there’s some mean people in the world,” she acknowledged. “Also, they could have just been drunk and being silly.”
The rude concertgoer made an impression nonetheless.
“It was weird, I saw [the spit] like coming through the air, it was like I made eye contact with the spit, and then it just lands on me,” she added, laughing.
Wilson then pantomimed playing the guitar while performing a teary rendition of her song “Heart Like a Truck.”
“That’s how I felt,” she said.
Despite the incident, Wilson hasn’t been discouraged from performing. The Grammy Award-winning artist is in the middle of her Country’s Cool Again tour, with dates scheduled for the U.S. and Canada through December.
