Indie music sensation Phoebe Bridgers has taken an extraordinary swipe at Aussie tennis legend Margaret Court, labelling her a ‘stupid c**t’ over her infamously controversial anti-LGTQI+ views.
Bridgers, 28, was playing to a sold-out audience at the Melbourne arena bearing the tennis legend’s name on Wednesday night, and took time out to lead the crowd in a ‘f**k Margaret Court’ chant.
Court, who is now a Christian minister after a storied career that included 24 major singles titles, was one of the most vocal critics of Australia’s same-sex marriage debate.
She described same-sex marriage as a ‘trend’, homosexuality as a ‘choice’ and labelled the women’s tour ‘a bunch of lesbians’.
Music superstar Phoebe Bridgers (pictured) launched into a withering spray at Aussie tennis legend Margaret Court on Wednesday night over her ‘homophobic’ views while playing at the arena bearing her name
Court, who won 24 major singles titles and is considered one of the best female players of all-time, is now a Christian minister more widely known for her views condemning homosexuality and same-sex marriage
The statements did not sit well with much of the Australian public – nor Bridgers, who is bisexual, by the sounds of it.
‘F**k that stupid-a**, dumba** b**ch. F**k that stupid c**t, change your name,’ she yelled out to the crowd, who got right behind her.
‘Who wants to say f**k Margaret Court on three? On three. One, two three, f**k Margaret Court!’
The chant was labelled ‘iconic’ by fans.
‘What a queen’ one fan wrote on Twitter.
‘Phoebe Bridgers really spoke the f***ing TRUTH about Margaret Court,’ another commented.
Phoebe Bridgers, pictured playing in Brisbane on February 4, was labelled ‘iconic’ for calling out Margaret Court’s anti-gay views
Margaret Court and fellow Aussie tennis legend Rod Laver at the official opening of the Margaret Court Arena, in Melbourne, in 2015
‘Phoebe Bridgers getting the Melbourne crowd to scream ‘f**k Margaret Court’, I am now at peace,’ said one fan, while one who attended said ‘it was the most beautiful moment of my life’.
It’s a stunningly fierce response to Court’s continual desire to assert her anti-LGBTQI+ views.
During the height of the same-sex marriage debate in 2017, the tennis legend said the ‘gay lobby’ was ‘trying to get into the minds of children … and they’re after our young ones’.
‘We know that homosexuality is a lust of the flesh, so is adultery, fornication, all those things … they too know this, this is why they want marriage, because it’s self-satisfying,’ she said.
Phoebe Bridgers is close friends with megastar Taylor Swift, and has often spoke of her admiration for the way Swift advocates for social issues
Bridgers had clearly done her research before she played at Margaret Court Arena, and also told the crowd that anger towards similar views helped fuel her.
‘I think hate is undervalued,’ she said.
‘I think it’s a f***ing weird white supremacy idea that hate is bad … hate is what moves things throughout history … I hate that stupid b**ch [Court].
‘Hate is like how you protect yourself, you know, like what, you are never supposed to be angry ever?’
Bridgers, a Grammy-nominated artist who has a cult following for her indie/emo-style music, is no stranger to using her shows to show her support (or decry) for social issues.
While playing at Glastonbury last year (pictured), Bridgers told the crowd of her disgust for her native country overturning Roe v Wade
Last year when the USA overturned Roe v Wade – giving states the option to make abortion illegal – Bridgers, who has had an abortion, told the Glastonbury crowd exactly what she thought of the decision.
‘F**k that shit. F**k America,’ she said. ‘Like, f**k you. All these irrelevant old motherf***ers trying to tell us what to do with our f***ing bodies,’ she said at the iconic festival.