‘Gossip Girl’ star Taylor Momsen bitten by bat while performing on stage, needs rabies shots for 2 weeks
"Gossip Girl" star Taylor Momsen experienced a terrifying encounter with a flying bat while performing on stage with her band The Pretty Reckless in Sevilla, Spain, on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old singer-songwriter, whose rock band is opening for AC/DC on the European leg of their Power Up tour, was singing her song "Witches Burn" at Estadio La Cartuja when a bat attached itself to the bottom of her dress and bit her in the leg.
Momsen later shared a video of the incident as well as clips from her trip to the hospital, telling her fans that she would need to receive rabies vaccine shots for the next two weeks.
"So…ROCK AND ROLL MOMENT…in Sevilla Wednesday during "Witches Burn" of all songs… a BAT flew onto me and clung to my leg…."Momsen wrote in the caption of her Instagram post.
"In the moment I was performing and had no idea until the incredible crowd kept screaming and pointing," she continued.
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"He was cute, but yes he bit me…so rabies shots for the next two weeks thanks to all the staff at the hospital who dubbed me #batgirl after seeing it on the local news that morning…more footage to come…that’s one for the books!!!! @acdc #pwrup #BATGIRL."
In the clip from the concert, Momsen was seen performing when she noticed that the crowd was trying to get her attention.
"You guys are pointing at something and I don't know what you're saying," she told the audience. The singer then turned around and bent over when she spotted the bat clinging to the bottom of her black and white lace slip dress.
"Holy f---!" Momsen exclaimed. She returned to the microphone and told the crowd, "There's a f------ flying bat on my leg right now."
Momsen remained calm and continued to stand at the microphone while crew members came over to help remove the bat.
"I must really be a witch," she joked. The former model turned and smiled as a fan whistled.
Momsen's unfazed demeanor apparently impressed the crowd with a fan calling out, "Muy professional!"
"Gracias!" Momsen told the fan as the audience clapped and cheered.
"It's alright," she said after the crew member removed the bat.
"And the bat's fine," she added. "He's gonna be my new friend."
Momsen also included clips in which she was seen at the hospital while being treated for the bite. She flashed a thumb's up while wearing a black face mask and was then seen lying in a hospital bed.
The Missouri native shared a video of the bite on her leg as well as a clip in which a nurse was seen administering a shot.
Per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rabies is a serious illness that is almost always fatal if not immediately treated. Rabies infects the central nervous system and symptoms include delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, hydrophobia (fear of water), and insomnia and eventually coma and death.
Treatment includes "a dose of human rabies immune globulin (HRIG), and a series of four or five rabies vaccines, which must be administered as soon as possible after exposure," according to the CDC.
Momsen began her career as a child actor and landed her breakout role as Cindy Lou Who in 2000's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," starring Jim Carrey.
She played Jenny Humphrey on the hit CW series "Gossip Girl" though she left the show after its fourth season in 2011. Momsen later told Elle magazine that she decided to retire from acting to focus on her music career.
Momsen is the frontwoman of The Pretty Reckless, which she formed in 2009 with guitarist and vocalist Ben Phillips, bassist Mark Damon and drummer Jamie Perkins.
The band has released four studio albums and scored seven number one singles on the U.S. rock charts.
The Pretty Reckless' tour with AC/DC kicked off on May 18 in Gelsenkirche, Germany, and will conclude on Aug. 17 in Dublin, Ireland.