It's fair to say that modern fan culture is intense, with social media and the internet in general creating a simmering cauldron of emotion that over threatens to boil over.
We've seen it in recent months with the bizarre trend of fans throwing items at their idols on stage, often resulting in injury - but more often than not, it manifests in intense 'fandoms', where the smallest perceived slight against a star results in someone being torn to shreds online.
One artist who doesn't have time for fandoms is Doja Cat, who is no stranger to controversy. However, this time it seems that the 'Say So' rapper has set her own boundary about what she expects from fans and what they can expect from her, in a (now deleted) heated Threads post.
She had a particular problem with her fans calling themselves 'Kittenz', saying "my fans don’t name themselves shit. if you call yourself a ‘kitten’ or fucking ‘kittenz,’ that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house."
A fan named thekittenzweb replied asking what they should use instead, and she told them: "just delete the account and rethink everything it’s never too late." She also told another fan who used the rapper's real name (Amala Dlamini) as their screen name: "you making my government name ur sn is creepy as fuck."
And don't ask her to tell her fans that she loves them - the standard response for most artists who are showered with flattery. She said: "I don’t though, cuz I don’t even know yall."
When an irked fan then told her that she'd be 'nothing' without her fans, she shot back: "nobody forced you idk why you’re taking to me like you’re my mother bitch you sound like a crazy person."
The Threads post was later deleted and she posted lyrics to The Velvet Underground's 'I'll Be Your Mirror' on her Instagram.
