Machine Gun Kelly Seems to Joke About Changing His Stage Name to Just 'Machine'

At GQ's Man of the Year event, the performer asked photographers, "Instead of 'Machine Gun Kelly,' can you hit me with just 'Machine' next time?"

Is Machine Gun Kelly changing his stage name to just Machine? Probably not.

While on the red carpet for the 2023 GQ Men Of The Year party at Bar Marmont in Los Angeles last week, MGK asked photographers to address him by a different version of his name — but it seems to be a joke.

"Instead of 'Machine Gun Kelly,' can you hit me with just 'Machine' next time?" said the "My Ex's Best Friend" performer — real name Colson Baker — who shared the quote to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.

Related: Megan Fox and MGK Step Out for a Date Night in Black and White at GQ’s Men of the Year Party

After fans picked up on MGK's perceived name change, Entertainment Weekly reported on Tuesday that he'll remain Machine Gun Kelly. A rep for MGK did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

The uncertainty around the pop-punker's stage name seems to stem from comedic social media duo Chad and JT, who attended an MGK concert last year and proposed he drop "Machine Gun" from his moniker.

Holding up a sign that read "Change your name," the comedians caught MGK's attention and asked him to take out "Machine Gun" as to not "glorify machine guns." The Grammy-nominated artist then asked the crowd for their thoughts, and the audience erupted in noise — but it's unclear which side of the debate they were on.

Related: Megan Fox Admits 'I Was Not a Peach' in Past Relationships as She Praises Machine Gun Kelly for His Support

Given their comedic style, it's also unclear whether or not Chad and JT were joking. But on Tuesday, the duo shared a TikTok video of the concert exchange with MGK juxtaposed with his comments on the GQ party red carpet and asked fans in the caption, "Do you think our sign worked?"

The "Papercuts" musician attended the GQ Men of the Year party with his fiancée Megan Fox — shortly after the release of her new poetry book, Pretty Boys Are Poisonous. While promoting the book on a recent episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, Fox highlighted the support she received from her fiancé throughout her writing process.

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"I think it helps that he’s an artist himself and recognizes that he has this outlet where he gets to experience his catharsis through songwriting — where he gets to express his pain in that way," Fox explained.

"As an actor, you don’t really have that, because I’m reading someone else’s dialogue. So I don’t really get to go to work and put my experiences and my pain into my art," Fox continued. "So he recognized that I needed an outlet for that, and when you love someone, you’re not gonna deny them their right to experience a relief from their suffering."

"And I think that’s just what it is to care about someone and to want to see them heal," she added.

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