A video of a baby “crowdsurfing” at a Flo Rida concert has gone viral on social media.
In the footage, captured by onlookers at the US rapper’s recent Celebrate Erie festival gig in Pensylvania, the young child is seen being lifted up by the crowd and carried towards the US rapper.
The artist, real name Tramar Dillard, then takes hold of the child, who is not identified. At one point, he can be seen holding a microphone up to the mouth of the infant.
After being shared on social media, the video sparked consternation from many viewers, who were concerned about the safety implications of bringing a young child to a rowdy gig environment.
“To me this is a major problem. Thats a baby! Passing it around in a crowd of uncleaned strangers is disgusting and [unfathomable] . But …. That aint my baby,” one person wrote.
“Yikess… the amount of drunk people there couldve easily hurt this baby,” another remarked.
“The crowd, the heat, the loud sounds … poor baby,” someone else commented, while another person wrote: “Bringing a baby to a concert is one thing, but this is going too far.”
“Omg? Why do people feel so comfortable bringing babies to concerts? Like so many things could go wrong in such a big crowd!!” wrote a fifth.
The child did not appear to be wearing ear protection. Protective headphones or earmuffs are advised for infants in loud environments such as gigs due to the extra sensitivity of their ears.
The clip was originally shared on Reddit on 20 August.
A baby is lifted aloft at Flo Rida’s gig— (u/anonomouspenguinn / Reddit)
The Independent has contacted a representative of Flo Rida for comment.
Flo Rida is a four-time Grammy-nominated rapper, singer, and songwriter, best known for his 2007 breakout single “Low”. Over the course of his career, he has sold over 80 million records worldwide.
In January 2023, Flo Rida was awarded $82.6m in a settlement after a South Florida jury found that energy drinks company Celsius energy had breached a contract with him, and attempted to hide money from him.
The “GDFR” artist served as a brand ambassador for Celsius between 2014 and 2018.
“Basically, I helped birth this company, and all we was looking for was some trustworthy people who acted as if they were family,” Flo Rida told The Associated Press. “And then when it comes down to the success of today, they just forgot about me.”
