Paramore's Hayley Williams bites tongue on Ron DeSantis during Orlando concert amid recent comments

Paramore encourages Orlando crowd to vote

Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams opened up about her past remarks about Ron DeSantis during a concert at the Amway Center in Orlando on June 13. Video: Dani Medina

ORLANDO, Fla. - Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams encouraged a sold out crowd at Orlando's Amway Center on Tuesday to "challenge corruption" amid recent comments she's made about Ron DeSantis.

"Being here as such a time as this, it's hard to keep my mouth shut," the "This Is Why" singer said near the end of the band's set. "And ever since I said some very direct words that got all in the news and people started coming at me as if I care what they think of us, I've been trying to think about what I would say when we make it here to Florida."

Williams is referring to remarks she made a couple of weeks ago where she slammed the Florida governor at a New Jersey music festival.

"I'll be happy to tell you, I'm very (expletive) comfortable talking politics, and if you vote for Ron DeSantis, you're (expletive) dead to me. Is that comfortable enough for anyone?" she told the crowd at the Adjacent Music Festival in Atlantic City on May 28, as seen on videos making the rounds on social media.

Without naming DeSantis at Tuesday's show, Williams instead addressed concertgoers directly and encouraged them to vote for humanity and to challenge corruption.

"If you hate the queer community, if you hate people of a different skin color and if you hate women, you are not safe here in this space," she said, paraphrasing the words of Kurt Cobain. "He also said this, ‘It is the duty of the youth to challenge corruption.’ So please do that, please vote.

"Vote for humanity. Vote for your neighbors. Vote for people of color. Vote for women. Vote for queer people. Vote for kids," she said, adding that "this world right here is in danger."

She also thanked Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost – who joined Paramore on stage last week in Washington, D.C. and told the audience, "(Expletive) Ron DeSantis! (Expletive) fascism!" – for having a team set up at the show to get concertgoers registered to vote and sign a petition to get abortion back on the ballot. Following his appearance, his comments went viral on social media, with some posts receiving over 3 million views.

The band also dedicated one of their new songs – "Big Man, Little Dignity" – to "a certain man in Florida" and asked fans to hold their pinky fingers up in the air to mock him.

Paramore's "This Is Why Tour" continues in Florida on Tuesday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.