Jazz pop singer Laufey has been forced to speak out after fans were outraged she picked a child as her best-dressed guest at her Perth concert on Saturday.
The 27-year-old Icelandic-Chinese artist kicked off her Australian A Matter of Time Tour at RAC Arena, where she thanked her thousands of fans for “a beautiful first show”.
One part of her show features a moment where Laufey picks a fan wearing her favourite Mei Mei the Bunny costume and brings them up to the stage for a meet-and-greet.
Mei Mei, meaning younger sister in Chinese, is the musician’s mascot and fan symbol who also serves as the main character in a children’s book written by Laufey and published in April.
The lucky fan receives a paper crown and an autograph.
At the Perth show, Laufey crowned young fan Clara as her best-dressed guest, saying she “captured her heart” and looked “absolutely adorable”.
Little Clara couldn’t have been more excited, with a huge smile on her face as her idol signed her copy of the picture book.
Despite the winning fan being Laufey’s choice, many were not impressed by a child winning, saying she “did not deserve it” and wouldn’t appreciate the interaction.
Outraged fans bullied the little girl in the comments of Laufey’s TikTok video that captured the whole interaction and showed her outfit.
“This is so f…ed up. She’s cute but she did NOT deserve it,” one said.
Another commented: “Undeserved and unfair. I love you, Laufey, but you clearly only did this to show that you care for your younger audience.”
Other TikTok users said that while the young fan’s outfit was “so cute”, there were other outfits they thought were more deserving.
One said: “Her fit was so cute, but I feel like one of the others should’ve won because it’s more detailed. Not hating on the little girl; I’m just saying I feel like someone else should’ve won.”
Another added: “I’m glad the child was happy, but people put so much money and time into these outfits and a little child won, who couldn’t even compare to theirs😭 it just pisses me off.”
Camera IconLaufey in Perth. Credit: Nicole Mago
All the negativity coming in prompted Laufey to defend Clara, saying she didn’t pick her because she was a child.
“Her outfit was so beautiful and detailed, and I loved it not because of her age but because it was my fav that I saw that night!
“Best Dressed guest is not a perfect system – luck plays a part as well! We don’t scan every single person, so sometimes we miss great outfits and people.
“Best Dressed guest is meant to be a fun little moment. Please, please don’t ever write negative comments about a child or anyone for the matter. It goes against EVERYTHING I stand for.
“I started doing this because I love encouraging people to dress up and express themselves. I wish I could crown everybody, but I sadly can’t. Let’s just enjoy dressing up and singing and dancing together. Love you!!”
Other fans supported Laufey’s choice and couldn’t believe there were “grown ass adults crying about a child winning a paper crown over them”.
“When did everyone get such bad sportsmanship omg,” one fan said.
Camera IconLola Tung, Alysa Liu, KATSEYE’s Megan, Laufey, and Hudson Williams in the music video for Madwoman. Credit: Supplied
Another fan said: “Some of you need to grow up; she is adorable and deserves it.”
“Grown adults out here acting like grade school bullies to a child by the way,” a third added.
“Why is everyone so negative? This is gonna be a core memory for the kid,” another fan said.
Some fans offered some feedback to Laufey, suggesting the competition should’ve been split up by age group.
“Honestly, I feel like they should’ve picked two winners: one for the child because she obviously deserved it as she worked hard but also one for somebody who had a really complex outfit,” one fan said.
Another person said that the fallout was why they believed artists should stop doing audience interactive segments in shows.
“As unfortunate as it is people take a fun moment with the artist and crowd and turn it into one big toxic competition. Like fans get upset when artist start to restrict these moments to celebs mid way through touring but look how people are reacting to a literal CHILD getting chosen for these kinds of moments.”
Another fan was shocked to see Laufey’s normally “chill” fandom reacting so negatively.
Laufey is set to perform in Melbourne on Thursday, Friday and Saturday before heading to Brisbane and Sydney.