Sombr is speaking out after a viral TikTok criticized his live performance — and fans have been buzzing ever since.
The 20-year-old artist responded to backlash following his October 13 concert at Anthem in Washington, D.C., after a 25-year-old concertgoer recorded a nearly nine-minute video calling the show “cringe.” The clip has since gone viral, sparking debate among fans and critics alike.
“I thought I was chronically online, but it’s just come to my attention that there’s a TikTok drama going around because a 25-year-old attended my concert and was basically complaining that there were too many tweens there, I was making too many brain-rot jokes, and she just thought it was a cringe concert,” Sombr said in his response on October 19, 2025.
In her original TikTok, the fan warned anyone planning to attend an upcoming show, “not spend your money on a Sombr concert.” She detailed being surprised by the primarily tween audience, criticized Sombr’s jokes, and called out a segment of the show called the “Sombr Dating Show,” where audience members were brought onstage to call their exes. She also claimed he made “super vulgar stuff about getting his dick sucked” and asked fans to “bark for me,” behavior she felt was inappropriate for younger attendees.
idk what i expected but it was certainly not that
♬ original sound – 𝓂𝑒𝑔
The fan didn’t hold back, saying, “It just doesn’t seem like he knows how to entertain. He’s maybe too young. Maybe he has to grow into it. I don’t know. Dancing was terrible, singing was terrible.” She admitted other audience members seemed to enjoy it, noting one fan called Sombr “my generation’s David Bowie,” but she likened his performance to Napoleon Dynamite and labeled the experience “a nightmare” and “cringe.”
In his response, Sombr hit back, accusing the fan of “body shaming” him. “It’s kind of started a massive body-shaming hate train directed towards me on a lot of videos of me on the internet right now,” he said. He defended the age gap, noting, “I totally respect people having opinions, but I am a 20-year-old artist, freshly 20. And if you’re 25 years old and you’re going to come to my concert and not expect people younger than you to be there, when I, the artist, am five years younger than you, it’s just a skill issue.”
Florence Pugh Embraced by ‘Dune’ Costars After Being Hit by an Object
Regarding his jokes, Sombr explained that concertgoers familiar with his online presence would understand his style. “I’ve never uttered a serious word in my life,” he said, adding that only “five minutes” of his show is dedicated to jokes, with the rest focusing on music.
Still, some fans criticized Sombr’s response for not addressing the underlying issue: marketing a show toward younger audiences while including mature, explicit content. Others felt he didn’t acknowledge the backlash the concertgoer herself received online, including death threats.
One fan wrote on X, “is anyone on sombr concert tiktok because I am on that girl’s side…she simply shared her valid opinion and he’s weird for making a crash out video responding to it. someone get his PR team!” Another added, “Yes Sombr is cringe but we must not forget that he has only just turned 20 years old and that he is part of the character.”
