Noah Kahan diapers joke hits D.C. after concert bathroom complaints
Noah Kahan pretended Congress called during a D.C. show, joking fans should wear diapers after reports of bathroom messes at concerts.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
Noah Kahan diapers chatter has officially reached the stage, and the singer turned the messiest fan-etiquette debate in pop into a bit during his Washington, D.C., concert.
Rolling Stone reported that Kahan addressed complaints about fans allegedly relieving themselves at his shows by pretending to take a call from Congress during his “Dial Drunk” phone booth segment. In fan video posted to TikTok by @viewithphie, Kahan lifts the phone and plays along as if lawmakers are on the line with an urgent concert policy.
“Hello? Congress. Oh, people have been pissing all over the floor at my shows as well?” Kahan said into the prop phone, according to Rolling Stone. He continued the gag by asking whether Congress was ordering fans, by act of Congress, to wear diapers before entering his concerts.
Then he turned back to the crowd with the punchline: “Alright, you heard Congress, fucking put some diapers on next time, y’all.”
Why did Noah Kahan talk about diapers at his concert?
Kahan was joking about online complaints that some concertgoers have soiled themselves or urinated rather than leave their spots during shows. Rolling Stone reported that the comments followed Reddit and TikTok posts describing bathroom incidents at his concerts.
The “Dial Drunk” bit is part of Kahan’s stage setup, according to Rolling Stone, with the singer using a phone booth moment during the song to stage a fake call. At the D.C. show, the pretend caller was Congress, a very Washington way to tell fans to use the restroom.
Kahan had already weighed in before the D.C. performance. In a June 27 post on X, he asked fans who need to go during a show to use the bathroom, writing, “please dear god just go to the bathroom lmao.” He added that venue workers are the ones left dealing with the aftermath.
The singer, 29, also joked in that post that he has had accidents “as much as the next 29 year old,” but said fans needed to think about the staff cleaning up after them. The X post drew 67.5K likes, according to the embedded post cited by Rolling Stone.
Kahan is currently on a sold-out stadium tour promoting his fourth studio album, The Great Divide, Rolling Stone reported. The bathroom discourse has now become a recurring side plot of the tour, with the singer using both social media and the stage to ask fans to make better choices.
He is not the only pop star to bring up the issue. Olivia Rodrigo recently told the U.K. radio show Kiss Breakfast that she had been to concerts and festivals where people wore diapers so they could stay at the front. Rodrigo said that, as a performer, it was something she had “smelled and experienced.”
The durable lesson is blunt: leaving your spot for the bathroom is part of attending a concert. Kahan’s joke landed because the alternative, according to the complaints he was responding to, is a nightmare for nearby fans and venue workers alike.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.