Addison Rae Cancels Performance 2 Days Before Music Festival Amid Met Gala Backlash

TikTok superstar Addison Rae canceled her performance at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Festival, which begins Friday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Rae, 20, was set to perform on Saturday at the Daytime Stage, alongside Oliva Rodrigo, All Time Low, Gabby Barrett, and Saweetie. It’s a disappointing end of the week for Rae, who started this week by attending her first Met Gala on Monday.

“Hi y’all! After a lot of thinking, I’ve decided that it’s best to not perform at iHeart,” the He’s All That star wrote in an Instagram Story message Thursday. “I want to give my fans 110% and I don’t feel like I’m ready to do that. Thank you for your understanding and support. Love y’all.” Rae offered no further explanation.

Rae made her Met Gala debut in a stunning red vintage Tom Ford for Gucci gown from 2003. She also showed off her new blonde hair color. Rae and her image architect, Law Roach, picked a dress from an American designer who is nknown to “empower women,” she told Vogue on the red carpet, reports PEOPLE. “I wanted to pay homage to that,” she said, adding, “We found exactly what kind of message we wanted to put across and this dress was perfect for that.”

Even Rae’s hairdo was inspired by Ford’s early 2000 Gucci campaigns. “When you look at all of the Gucci references during the Tom Ford era, everything had a certain sleekness that exuded freedom,” hairstylist and Virtue Labs Creative Director Adir Abergel told PEOPLE. “Tom knew how to bring strength and confidence with his clothes to make a woman feel sexy. That’s exactly what I wanted to do with the hair.”

Rae, whose appearance at the Met Gala got people on Twitter angry about seeing a famous person at a gathering of famous people, is one of the most popular stars on social media. She has over 84.4 million followers on TikTok and 39.9 million followers on Instagram. She also made her acting debut in Netflix’s gender-bending She’s All That remake He’s All That. Although the film was savaged by critics, it was a huge success for Netflix. The streamer even signed a nonexclusive, multi-million dollar deal with Rae to produce more films with her.

While Rae usually doesn’t respond to criticism, she has insisted she is taking making movies seriously and has always wanted to act. “Now, it’s just time for me to take that extra step, go the extra mile to make sure people can see my passion for acting going forward,” she recently told The Los Angeles Times. “I really hope that people give [the movie] a chance – give me a chance to show myself as an actress and not go into it with a negative mindset.”