A wave of support and outrage from activists has gotten Action Bronson booted from his spot at the NXNE Festival in Toronto, a decision revolving largely around the recent rediscovery of a 2011 song by the emcee titled "Consensual Rape." The controversial song was cited by more than 37,000 who signed a Change.org petition pushing to get Bronson removed from the lineup.
The spokespersons for the NXNE organizers revealed the announcement with a statement, where they declared aims to find a separate performance opportunity for Bronson in the Toronto area.
"A significant number of Torontonians have indicated their desire to have Action Bronson not perform at the Square," reads the statement. "As annual guests in this space we feel we must accede to the strong wishes of the community and honour their input. As a result, we will not be presenting Action Bronson at Yonge-Dundas Square but, hopefully we will still be presenting Action Bronson as part of Northby. We remain fundamentally committed to presenting this artist on a Toronto stage."
It's nice that NXNE has shown some sympathy for both sides of the story here, although the decision to cancel Bronson's set flies in the face of last week's progress, where the promoters told the anti-Bronson crowd that there was another act playing during the time slot, which they could check out instead. The group also cited a 2012 performance in the area that Bronson had attended (less than a year after the release of "Consensual").
Bronson himself, however, has been less even in his tone following the critiques that have emerged.
"5 years ago a lost track. That's what u base UR argument on? HOW ABOUT THE 9 PROJECTS THAT HAVE COME OUT SINCE? Don't single me out," he tweeted, following up with "F*CK ALL YALL HATERS BLOW D*CK...WHO GIVES A F*CK!! UR GONNA BE SEEING SO MUCH OF ME FOR SO MANY YEARS TO COME ULL HAVE PLENTY MORE TO HATE ON. STAY TUNED...."
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