While the music industry may seem like all glitz and glamour from the outside, it’s easy to see how racism, sexism, and queerphobia can affect even the most influential artists — including Hayley Williams of Paramore, the iconic pop-punk princess whose vocal prowess continues to reign supreme. In a recent interview with Billboard, Williams revealed her frustration with the highly problematic mid-2000 punk scene and shared one of her own experiences as an example. Williams called out NOFX singer Fat Mike for (allegedly) being a total creep when she was only 19 years old.
“What I felt was a mixture of vindication and also a lot of anger,” she told Billboard, referring to an impromptu speech she made at the 2022 When We Were Young festival in Las Vegas. During Paramore’s set, she told the highly nostalgic crowd that the mid-2000s punk scene could be a harrowing place “if you were different, if you were a young woman, if you were a person of color, if you were queer.” She continued, “That’s really fucked up if you think about it because this was supposed to be the safe place, wasn’t it?” In that moment, even Williams didn’t realize how much rage she carried.
