Lil Nas X Documentary Premiere Targeted by Bomb Threat

A bomb threat delayed the world premiere of the Lil Nas X documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday night.

The film had been scheduled at 10 p.m. for the Roy Thomson Hall.

Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’s co-directors Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel along with the documentary’s editor Andrew Morrow arrived on the red carpet before the film’s debut. They were joined by fans. However, as Lil Nas X arrived, he was held in place for 20 minutes while officials informed the film’s team of the threat, Variety reports.

A source told the publication that the threat targeted the out rapper for being a Black queer artist, but TIFF officials told Variety and other outlets on record that the threat wasn’t directed at the artist.

TIFF security went through the venue. After they gave the all-clear, Lil Nas X joined the others on the red carpet.

The screening began at 10:30 p.m.

“Earlier this evening, we were made aware by the Toronto Police Service of an investigation in the vicinity of the red carpet for the ‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’ screening. 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,” a TIFF spokesperson told Variety.

Leading up to Saturday’s premiere, Lil Nas X told the publication that he was hoping the film made a positive impact.

“I know in my lifetime, while I’m here, I’m going to do my best to make the ceiling unreachable to where we can go as Black queer people,” he said. “And I mean unreachable as, like, it can go above and beyond.”

The Grammy-winning artist participated in a Q&A after the premiere.

He told the audience that he’d like to continue branching into different musical genres, according to People.

“I want to do some like folk music. What else do I want to do? Like, like, like Brazilian funk.”

He added that he’d like to direct as well. Lil Nas X told audience members to pursue risks.

“If you're scared to do something, you probably should,” he said. “Like a lot of times, when you feel stuck in life, do the thing that you're most afraid to do.”

A release date for Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero has not been announced.