Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless bitten by a bat onstage: 'I must really be a witch'
Taylor Momsen is embracing her new "Batgirl" nickname after a scary onstage incident.
The former "Gossip Girl" star and frontwoman of The Pretty Reckless was bitten by a bat while performing in Spain on Wednesday, where the group opened for AC/DC.
Momsen, 30, shared a clip of the moment on Instagram. In the video, she notices that the crowd is pointing at something before she looks down at her leg and exclaims. "There's a (expletive) flying bat on my leg right now," she says. "Can someone help me, please?"
According to Momsen, the incident occurred during a performance of the song "Witches Burn," and the odd timing was not lost on her. "I must really be a witch," she joked from the stage. Momsen told the crowd the bat was "fine" after it was removed from her leg, adding, "He's going to be my new friend."
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The video then cut to a clip of Momsen, who played Cindy Lou Who in 2000's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," receiving medical attention and showing her leg with red marks.
"A BAT flew onto me and clung to my leg ... in the moment I was performing and had no idea until the incredible crowd kept screaming and pointing ... he was cute, but yes he bit me ... so rabies shots for the next two weeks," Momsen wrote on Instagram.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bats are the "most commonly reported animals to have rabies" in the United States.
Momsen thanked the staff at the hospital for treating her and joked that they "dubbed me #batgirl after seeing it on the local news that morning." She used the hashtag "Batgirl" in the caption of several subsequent Instagram posts, one of which showed her walking off stage after being bitten. "He was very cute," she said of the bat.
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In the comments, Momsen addressed a question from Natasha Bedingfield, who asked if it hurt. "The bite? No," she replied. "The shots? YES." But she maintained a sense of humor about the situation and on Saturday shared a photo of herself backstage posing next to a joking "no bats" sign. The Pretty Reckless said that the band's next show was "bat free thankfully."
The rock band is currently on tour in support of AC/DC, with upcoming shows scheduled for the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taylor Momsen bit by a bat, receives rabies shots after AC/DC concert
