Shakira shared behind-the-scenes footage of her screaming after spotting a rat nearly crawling on her head during filming for a music video.
The 46-year-old Colombian singer was portraying a mermaid in the video for her latest collaboration with Manuel Turizo, "Copa Vacía," which translates to "Empty Cup."
The footage she shared on Instagram showed her as a siren washed ashore and lying on a bed of rocks strewn with garbage.
And while we're pretty sure Shakira wasn't at an actual dump site, the trashed set piece sure made a transient rodent feel at home and make a beeline toward her head.
Seeing the hairy creature in the nick of time, the "Hips Don't Lie" singer let out an impassioned scream and rose up halfway, limited by the constraints of the mermaid tail that bound her legs together.
The extended pink hairpiece remained where her head was previously as the rat scurried onto it and ruined the shot.
She later saw the humor in the moment of crisis and shared the hilarious take on Instagram.
The clip of her screaming was repeated on a loop four times, with the last two being a closeup, to highlight the horror.
The Queen of Latin Music captioned the Instagram post with the following translation from Spanish to English:
"Things that happen even to mermaids."
Fans shared their thoughts about the rude intrusion.
People also had thoughts about Shakira's hairpiece that made a sacrifice by taking one for the team.
The rat invasion wasn't the only incident during the music video shoot.
She told Univision's Primer Impacto that she had to be lifted by a crane from a giant tank of water when things went haywire.
The singer recalled:
"The fish tank broke, the set began to flood, and they had to take me out of there."
"I couldn't go out because I had a mermaid tail, and I couldn't climb out."
She added:
"Every man for himself. Good thing it was just an anecdote, and I'm here to tell it."
In another behind-the-scenes clip posted on Instagram, Shakira was seen being carried around on and off set due to her limited mobility.
At one point in the clip, she came up with a humorous moniker and identified herself as "SHAKIMI"–a mashup of "Shakira" and the Japanese delicacy of fresh raw fish, "sashimi."
She wrote in the comments for the video post:
"Sushi anyone? Or #Shakimi?"
"Copa Vacía" is the fourth single from Shakira's twelfth studio album.
It was released at the same time as the music video–without the rat cameo–on June 29, 2023.
