‘All Are Welcome—Except Those Who Don’t Believe That’: Hayley Williams Takes a Stand

“All are welcome if you believe all should be welcome … If you don’t believe that, you’re not welcome!” Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams recently told Clash Magazine in an interview discussing her new music and upcoming 2026 solo tour.  

She didn’t shy away from specifics: “I don’t want racists around, and I don’t want sexist people around, and I don’t want people there who think that trans people are a burden. I think that’s a hard line for me now.” For Williams, the intention is simple; her shows should feel like a genuine safe space—somewhere people walk in and instantly sense that “the gang’s all here, all banded together around something positive.”

This isn’t the first time Hayley Williams has spoken out against bigotry; in fact, she has a history of calling out harmful behavior directly and without apology. After an incident in 2023 at a Paramore concert in Utah—where a man assaulted several members of the audience—Williams released a statement that made her stance unmistakable: “PARAMORE DOES NOT CONDONE violence, homophobia, or bigotry of any kind… To make things as clear as possible: Paramore shows are meant to be a safe place for people. If you can’t respect that, do not come.”

Williams is carrying that same standard into her solo tour; however, as violence and hate toward marginalized communities—particularly the LGBTQ+ community—have escalated, she’s making it clear that this boundary is no longer just a value but a hardline. Bigotry won’t be tolerated—on her stage or in her audience.

This new chapter represents something rare for her; she says it’s the first time she’s been able to fully express herself without label-driven limitations. Her album Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party reflects a conscious effort to “create a conversation that forced engagement between people,” including nostalgia for the way early internet message boards fostered connection—not division. 

Musically and lyrically, the album diverges from Paramore’s high-octane pop-punk catharsis; instead, it leans into something more intimate, experimental, and emotionally exposed—yet still recognizable to anyone who grew up with her voice soundtracking their teenage angst. Where Paramore anthems helped millennials shout their way through adolescence, Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party sits with the messiness of adulthood: identity, grief, boundaries, and the slow, exhausting work of becoming someone you’re proud of.

It’s quieter, sharper, and more deliberate, an evolution that mirrors the millennial shift from simply surviving to trying to understand the world we’re navigating. And that kind of growth, Williams emphasizes, requires safety; it’s what drives her decision to draw a hard line about who she wants in the room for this tour. If you can’t stand with the communities she stands with, she suggests, then you probably shouldn’t stand in her crowd.