Robbie Williams has called out the “twits” criticising his performance at the ABC’s New Year’s Eve concert during a pop-up gig in Melbourne to promote his new movie—where he also received the keys to the city.
Crowds of fans packed Fed Square from early morning yesterday to catch a glimpse of the British pop star, who is in Australia to promote his recently released biopic Better Man, which was shot in Melbourne and received funding from the federal and Victorian government.
After receiving backlash for “over-promoting” the film during his New Year’s Eve performance on the ABC, Williams took the opportunity to tell his critics to “fuck off” during the free, packed-out promo event.
“Is anybody aware that I got in trouble for over-promoting my film on the TV? What the fuck did they think I was there for?” he told the crowd. “Get on a plane, come down and sing ‘Angels’ again? Fuck off! I’m here to sell my fucking movie, you twits. You book Robbie Williams, you get Robbie Williams.”
Williams dialled back his rant when he realised some of the backlash was from the ABC being a taxpayer-funded network.
“Is the ABC funded by you guys, is that what it is?” he said. “Oh, soz Australia.”
Williams announced the Fed Square gig on Wednesday evening, and by 7am on Thursday eager fans were already lining up for the show and Q&A session, which began at 5pm.
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Shortly before scheduled start time, the venue declared it had reached its 8,000 capacity, and directed more than 4,000 additional fans not yet inside the main arena to an overflow site at Birrarung Marr, next to the Yarra River, where they could watch the event on large screens.
Williams took over the main stage at Fed Square for an hour for a Q&A session about the film and to perform a short set of hits from the movie, including his latest track ‘Forbidden Road,’ which has been nominated for a Golden Globe, as well as fan favourites ‘Angels’ and ‘Let Me Entertain You.’
Victorian film-maker Michael Gracey co-wrote and directed the movie, which was said to be the biggest production project in the state’s history, with more than $142m spent and 3,000 jobs created.
As part of yesterday’s event, Robbie Williams was joined on stage by Lord Mayor of Melbourne Nick Reece, who presented Robbie with Keys to the City.
