In the fandom universe – a phenomenon that refers to the group of followers of a hobby or person – the line between love and hate is thinner than usual. Today, having a loyal community of followers can make the difference between cultivating a short or long career. Yes, the talent of the artist is crucial to consolidate in the industry and is reaffirmed through awards and the approval of music critics. But it’s them, the fans, who fill the concert halls, pay for the tours and drive up the playback figures on the platforms. Some forget the power of the fandom universe and how that same community that adores them can turn against them for an unfortunate comment.
American singer Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, better known as Doja Cat, is this week the victim of the fury of her own fans. After criticizing them for wanting to take a nickname in his honor, the artist suddenly lost more than 250,000 followers on the networks.
“My fans don’t call themselves nonsense. If you call yourself Kitten or Kittenz, it means you have to put down your phone and get a job to help your parents,” the Los Angeles artist forcefully wrote. Minutes later came the plummeting number of followers and thousands of hateful comments turned the artist’s name into a trending topic on Twitter: “You would be nothing without us. You would be working in a supermarket”, was one of the comments. Far from putting an end to the controversy, a comment from a fan asking Doja Cat to write on the networks that he loves them ignited the singer again: “I won’t do it because I don’t know you”, she said.
It is not the first time that the fandom effect turns against an artist. At the microphone, Cardi B assaulted fans who wanted to get closer to her during her concert at London’s Wireless Festival in 2022, and in January Bad Bunny caused quite a stir after throwing her cellphone into the sea a fan trying to take a picture with him. She considered suing him if the Puerto Rican didn’t apologize and the artist’s songs plummeted on Spotify’s US charts. However, everything was settled with a rain of criticism on the networks and the artist decided to privatize his Instagram until the waters calmed down.
In the case of Doja Cat, it seems that the storm is on its way. In fact, cyber harassment towards the artist has forced her to disable comments on her Instagram.