Megan Thee Stallion feared she had suffered a stroke when she was rushed to hospital during her first week performing on Broadway, where she was found to be exhausted and suffering a panic attack.
Megan Thee Stallion feared she had suffered a stroke when she was rushed to hospital during her first week performing on Broadway.
The 31-year-old rapper admitted she hadn’t been eating properly and felt dehydrated during her preparations for appearing as emcee Zidler in a production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and though she was determined not to “let anyone down”, the pressure and stress eventually caught up with Megan.
Tearfully admitting she had been showing up “a little bit mentally not okay” every day, she recalled to America’s Marie Claire magazine: “I thought I was having a stroke.
“I wasn’t getting any oxygen to my brain, so my hands had froze. My face had froze. I was trying to tell everybody that I don’t think I’m okay. They only thought I was dehydrated.”
The hospital determined the WAP hitmaker was exhausted and having a panic attack.
Kelsie Watts, who played Satine in the production, recalled seeing how unwell Megan looked at the beginning of the performance.
She said: “The very first time that we interact is after the song Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend, and we come out onto what’s called the passerelle. It’s right next to the front row, and we have this little interaction scene with each other.
“I looked at her, and she had barely any color in her face, was shaking, was sweating, and I was like, ‘This is not normal,’ especially for her and for someone who does work as hard as she does and wants to push through. When I got offstage, I was like, ‘Something’s gonna happen. She’s not okay.’”
The production paused for around 20 minutes and Kelsie admitted Megan took a lot of convincing to go to hospital.
She said: “She wanted to keep doing the show because she knew that so many hotties were there and so many people were excited to see her, but she had to [go].”
The HISS hitmaker admitted she hadn’t realised how tough the stage experience would be.
She said: “These people are working hard, like anybody in theatre. They’re working all week except for Mondays. I know they tired. Like, when I walked in that b****, I be tired. And they be so happy and just upbeat. I stopped complaining.”
Kelsie added: “She was burning the candle at both ends. If she wasn’t in rehearsals, then she was going to work on her album, or she was going to do press or a photo shoot. A lot of people don’t realise, eight shows a week is just different. Until you do it, you can’t describe it, but it’s really freaking hard, and I think she was just exhausted.”
Megan stayed with Moulin Rouge! until 1 May, two weeks ahead of the originally scheduled May 17 finale, and insisted it was “one of the best experiences” she’d ever had.
She said: “It was one of the best experiences, as a performer, in my life.”
And the Savage singer is trying to take better care of herself these days.
She said: “I’m definitely trying to stay more hydrated and be more calm.”
Megan Thee Stallion feared stroke
