Lil Nas X joked he was “about to go to jail in Norway” after he was stopped by police for riding an electric scooter through a major tunnel in the country’s capital city, Oslo.
Authorities briefly closed the Festning tunnel after four Americans, including the “Old Town Road” artist, rode e-scooters through it, but none of them were detained or charged.
The group had followed a GPS route into the 1.8-kilometer (1.1 mile) downtown tunnel late on Monday (10 July), police said. The four “used large parts of the roadway”, so a road traffic centre had to shut down some lanes, they added.
“They apologised. We have escorted them out,” the police department said on Twitter.
Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet reported on Tuesday (11 July) that Lil Nas X, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, was one of the four Americans.
The musician is in Oslo to perform at the outdoor Slottsffell festival nearby on Wednesday (12 July).
The rapper posted photographs of the incident on his Instagram story, joking: “About to go to jail in Norway.”
In another post, he posed with two police officers, quipping that he’d been released without charge because they were fans.
Lil Nas X and Oslo police— (Instagram)
Lil Nas X performed at Glastonbury Festival last month, taking second billing on the Pyramid Stage to Elton John.
In a four-star review of his performance, Ben Bryant wrote: “His stage shows have a reputation for being exciting and inventive, and this afternoon’s Pyramid stage offering is no different. It is ridiculously high energy.
“Lil Nas X bursts onstage with opener “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” – a viral TikTok smash thanks to its catchy “Call me when you want” refrain. The relatively laidback “Scoop”, a collaboration with Doja Cat from Montero, provides a rare opportunity to catch your breath.”
Lil Nas X at Glastonbury— (Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Describing the rapper’s “furry boots and the set’s breakneck pace”, he said the show had “the energy and aesthetics of a gabber rave”.
Lil Nas X paused his performance at Lollapalooza Stockholm in Sweden earlier this month after a fan threw a sex toy on stage.
Footage showed the artist stopping mid-dance to pick up the object. “What’s wrong with y’all?” the star asked the crowd before continuing the show.
Lil Nas X is one of the latest performers to have an item thrown at them on stage in the middle of a concert; Pink recently had a fan’s mother’s ashes thrown at her on stage, and Bebe Rexha was injured when a fan threw a mobile phone at her face.
Additional reporting by AP
