Melanie Martinez Addresses Trolls And Online Fan Culture After Purse-Stealing Incident

Melanie Martinez’s purse was stolen during a concert on Saturday night (August 29) and, suspecting a fan, reached out via Twitter. She even offered to come and collect it herself, no questions asked. Instead of receiving help (let alone sympathy), her timeline was bombarded with follow requests, declarations of love and offensive jokes. The 20-year-old wasn’t impressed and expressed her dismay at the situation in an emotional Tumblr post.

“I’m so disappointed,” the “Pity Party” singer wrote. “Tonight I got my purse stolen from backstage. I had my passport in there, my card, personal shit from my parents, etc. not only is this illegal, but the fact that whoever took it, did it because they look at it as some sort of twisted ‘souvenir’, makes me SICK.” Melanie then addressed online fan culture. “I hate this internet age we live in too, because I reach out on Twitter trying to find who took my purse and all you write is ‘mom’ ‘Queen’ ‘follow me’,” she continued. “How is that normal?! How is that okay? How do you sleep at night?”

“My friend gives his number out for anyone who might have any info, and people call laughing, asking if they could talk to me, lying saying they have my purse and will give it back if I get their tweet to 2,000 favorites. Really? I don’t know how else to say this. I’m sick of artists feeling too scared to speak up on this issue. Just because I make music, doesn’t mean you have the right to dehumanize me.”

“You bully me, you judge me, you call me a bitch If I’m having a bad day, the list goes on and on. I work my ass off for you, I give so much of myself to you, and i go broke to create for you. Remember that I am a human. The fact that I was talking to another friend of mine who is an artist and she said that if we were bleeding on the sidewalk, people would probably take a selfie before helping us, is a problem,” the break-out star revealed.

“No human should feel this way. Please understand that I make music to express myself, and if you know anything about me you know that I’m nothing but honest. I love everyone who supports me and my music, and I appreciate it. But after tonight there was no way that I couldn’t speak up about this issue.” Melanie’s debut LP Cry Baby recently debuted at number six on the Billboard 200. Read her measured (under the circumstances) Tumblr post here. And if you still think she’s overreacting, see the first response to her tweet below.

Melanie’s original tweet and the first reply:

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