Viet Cong Gets Backlash for Band Name, Cancels Show

Canadian indie rock band, Viet Cong, was supposed to be playing a show at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio next Saturday, Mar. 13. That show has been cancelled due to the offensive nature of their name by Ivan Krasnov, the event's promoter, who posted a statement on the venue's Facebook page Sunday about the cancellation.

"As the person behind booking this band, I would first and foremost like to apologize on both my and my booking organization's behalf for inviting a band with a name that deeply offends and hurts Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American communities, both in Oberlin and beyond," the statement reads in part. "I acknowledge the problematic nature of a band naming themselves "Viet Cong" and extend my apology to anyone hurt or made uncomfortable by the name and its connotations."

Krasnov made note of how Viet Cong frontman, Matt Flegel, previously reacted to people being upset over their band name.

""That [name] comes from our drummer, and from us being teenagers and watching movies," Flegel said in an interview with Impose Magazine. "The Viet Cong were always the bad asses in movies." Flegel said. "It's just a band name. It's just what we called ourselves."

"The fact that the band openly acknowledges their problematic name, yet fails to change it or do anything about it, highlights this blatantly appropriative move, reinforcing a tradition of American (and Western) orientalism and appropriation," Krasnov's statement read following Flegel's quote.

Social media has been divided over whether or not the name is offensive enough to cancel a show.

Below is a video queued up at the time noted in Krasnov's statement where Flegel sort of laughs off the offensiveness of his band's name.

Do you think the name Viet Cong is offensive? Should they change it or do you think it is an overreaction? Sound off in the comments section below.