Kesha says prop blade was switched for 'real butcher knife' without her knowledge during Lollapalooza performance
Published on April 20, 2026 EDT

Kesha has revealed that she had a sharp realization about a butcher knife during her 2024 Lollapalooza set.

Following her Thursday night set at the Chicago music festival, the pop star claimed that a knife she brandished on stage during a performance of her 2010 Animal album cut "Backstabber" was not a prop, but an actual utensil that was swapped out without her knowledge.

"Sooooo apparently the prop knife went missing and they replaced it with a real butcher knife stolen from the kitchen. and I didn’t know. till now," the 37-year-old wrote Thursday on X, after she finished her set earlier in the evening.

Natasha Moustache/Getty

Kesha then urged her followers to "watch that again," with regard to the performance, in which she held the knife in her right hand, shimmied around the stage, and acted out a few stabbing actions with her backup dancers.

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for Kesha and Lollapalooza for comment.

The singer-songwriter's Lollapalooza show included renditions of songs from all corners of the "Tik Tok" performer's career, including her new single "Joyride."

The new single — the first preview of her upcoming album — recently went viral, fittingly, on TikTok, the same social media platform that also saw users replace audio of Kesha laughing at the beginning of her classic song "Blow" with a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris' popular coconut tree speech and accompanying giggle. Naturally, Kesha performed the Harris remix of "Blow" during her Lollapalooza set, too.

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Other artists who performed Thursday at Chicago's Grant Park include Megan Thee Stallion, Hozier, Chappell Roan, and Tyla, with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday sets planned from SZA, The Killers, Blink-182, and Tate McRae, among others.

Lollapalooza runs through Sunday.

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