Omah Lay Dancing With Jessani at Concert

Overview

Omah Lay Dancing With Jessani at Concert refers to controversy stemming from a viral video of musician Omah Lay inviting a woman named Jessani on-stage during a concert in London to dance provocatively with him behind a curtain. The clip (and other angles from attendees) went viral in late February 2024 and inspired memes and reactions expressing sympathy for a man in the crowd who was her boyfriend. The backlash inspired Jessani to post a video to TikTok apologizing to her boyfriend and clearing the air, claiming they spoke about it beforehand and that he agreed it would be okay for her to do if she was called up on stage.

Background

On February 21st, 2024, a video of Omah Lay bringing a woman, Jessani, up on stage to dance with him in a silhouette behind a curtain went viral on TikTok. This is an act that is regularly performed by the artist on stage and has been filmed several times.^[1] One of the earliest uploads of the video was posted by TikToker^[2] @with_albright that day, garnering over 2 million views in five days (shown below).

Developments

The video went viral online as some noticed a man in the crowd who was purportedly her boyfriend, with many expressing sympathy for him and criticizing Jessani for going on stage and dancing provocatively when she had a boyfriend.^[7] On February 21st, 2024, X^[3] user @V3INZELL posted, "Apparently the babe omah lay been dey bend for stage came with her boyfriend." That day, the same X^[4] user posted a video showcasing his reaction, garnering over 32,000 likes in five days (shown below).

On February 22nd, X^[8] user @adeyinka_adeife criticized Jessani for going on stage, writing, "This girl at Omah lay’s concert has no regard for her boyfriend. Imagine seeing my girl go down on her knee, arching her back and twerking for a musician on stage. The babe did the guy dirty," garnering over 4,200 likes in five days.

See the guy’s reaction. Omah Lay whyyy 😭 https://t.co/NxfwFcAHxR pic.twitter.com/cmpAU0yt4c

— Veinzell🌍🌹 (@V3INZELL) February 21, 2024

Jessani's Apology Response

On February 25th, 2024, Jessani, the girl in the video, posted two videos responding to the backlash on TikTok.^[5][6] In the first (shown below, left), she writes that she's received death threats over the incident. In the second, she talks further on the hate and apologizes to her boyfriend for the dance, saying she wouldn't have even gone to the concert if she knew she'd get this much hate.

She also clears up rumors about her boyfriend buying tickets, saying she bought the tickets. She also says she spoke with her boyfriend before the concert and they both agreed she could go on stage if called up.

Online Reactions

The video largely sparked negative reactions towards Jessani for dancing with Omah Lay on stage, with some painting it as Jessani betraying her boyfriend. The situation also inspired memes online. On February 24th, 2024, TikToker^[9] @farodbb posted a meme about the video, garnering over 400,000 views in three days (shown below).

Search Interest

External References