The Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) much-anticipated world premiere of Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero encountered a serious hiccup on Saturday (Sept. 9) following a security alert that disrupted the event’s schedule at the Roy Thomson Hall.
Directed by Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel, the documentary is reported to delve into the life of the Grammy Award-winning artist. Following Nas X along his “Long Live Montero Tour,” it’s slated to portray a more intimate side of the “INDUSTRY BABY” hitmaker.
Ahead of the evening’s event, festival organizers received a notification from local authorities of a bomb threat directed toward the premiere. Out of sheer necessity to guarantee everyone’s safety, including the icon Lil Nas X, attendees, and the working staff, a brief postponement ensued to facilitate an investigation of the claims.
Speaking to Variety, a TIFF spokesperson elucidated the situation. “Our standard security measures remained in place during this time, and the screening commenced with a slight delay. To our knowledge, this was a general threat and not directed at the film or the artist,” they shared.
A representative for the Toronto Police Service also commented on the situation. They added, “Yesterday, at the TIFF, a passerby uttered a threat toward private security. Out of an abundance of caution, the Toronto police and the private security swept the scene and cleared [it] within 20 minutes. The threat was general and did not target any one person.”
Luckily, the screening took place after the assessment was complete. Joined by his father and two nephews, Nas X appeared on the red carpet before heading inside the venue.
Additional viewings of Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero are slated to take place up until Sept. 17. Currently, there is no release date regarding when the film will hit streaming platforms.
In the wider context of potential threats at artists, a sex toy was thrown at Nas X during his set at Lollapalooza Stockholm. Although he didn’t get hit, the rapper reacted: “Who threw their p**sy onstage?”