Lil Nas X is ditching his horse and that old town road in favor of a scooter and an Oslo tunnel, something that recently led to a run-in with police. The musician was reportedly among four Americans recently stopped by Norwegian police after they rode electric scooters through an Oslo tunnel.
Norwegian police confirmed Monday, per the Associated Press, that the Festning tunnel, located in the country’s capital city, was briefly closed after a group of tourists followed a GPS route into the 1.8-kilometer (1.1 mile) downtown tunnel. The group was ultimately stopped by police, who explained on Twitter that the riders “used large parts of the roadway,” so lanes had to be shut down. The group was safely escorted out of the tunnel, with the police department sharing that “they apologized” for the incident. The AP reported that none of the scooter riders were detained or charged over the mishap.
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According to Vidar Pedersen, the tunnel’s operations manager, per BBC, police were called shortly after the scooters were spotted entering the tunnel. Pedersen said officers approached the riders after checking CCTV footage, noting that “at one point,” the riders “also crossed the road, then realized it wasn’t such a good idea. We then sent two police patrols, guided them out and onto the quay at the waterfront.”
While police did not release the identities of those involved, Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet reported that Lil Nas X, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, was one of the four tourists. The rapper later confirmed the news himself when he took to his Instagram Story to share photos of the incident, joking that he was “about to go to jail in Norway,” according to the Independent. In another post, the rapper posed with two police officers, telling his fans that he’d been released without charge because they were fans.
The incident came as the 24-year-old is in Norway for a performance at Slottsfjell festival this week. Lil Nas X is set to perform at the outdoor festival on Wednesday, July 13. The performance will come a little more than a week after he performed at the European Lollapalooza in Stockholm, Sweden, which made headlines after a sex toy was thrown on stage by someone in the crowd during his performance of “Down Souf Hoes.” The musician managed to dodge the NSFW object, though he briefly paused his performance to walk over to see what it was, pick it up, and ask the crowd, “who threw their p- on stage.” Prior to that performance, the “Industry Baby” singer appeared at Glastonbury, taking second billing on the Pyramid Stage to Elton John. He is set to perform at a series of European festivals this summer.
