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Tag: Inauguration

  • Lupe Fiasco Incident Gets Him Kicked Offstage

    Lupe Fiasco may have been invited to perform at President Obama’s inaugural concert, but that doesn’t mean he supports the current administration. In fact, he used the stage as a platform to rail Obama and proceeded to perform a long (30-minutes plus) anti-war song.

    Fiasco, who has been vocal about his displeasure with Obama’s time in office, told audiences he didn’t vote for him this time around, which earned the singer some jeers from the crowd. He was quickly told to move on with his show and refused, causing security to rush the stage and usher him off.

    StartUp RockOn, the group which organized the event, released a statement about the incident and were adamant about the fact that it was not an attempt to stifle Fiasco’s opinons, but rather to keep the audience happy.

    StartUp RockOn is all about startups helping startups. At Sunday night’s Inauguration Celebration at the Hamilton Live, organizers set out to honor innovative visionaries with grants, accolades and a party worthy of the success we achieved at the RNC and DNC this summer. Lupe Fiasco performed at this private event, and as you may have read, he left the stage earlier than we had planned. But Lupe Fiasco was not “kicked off stage” for an “anti-Obama rant.” We are staunch supporters of free speech, and free political speech. This was not about his opinions. Instead, after a bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance that left the crowd vocally dissatisfied, organizers decided to move on to the next act. Lupe Fiasco repeated the one song for more than 40 minutes.

  • Beyonce: “Disinvite” Petition Removed By White House

    Beyonce has seemingly done her part in the movement to get kids active and healthy, partnering with Michelle Obama to create a music video for the “Let’s Move!” campaign in 2011; however, some aren’t happy that she’s also partnered with Pepsi as the new face of their ad campaign and say she’s undoing all the hard work put into focusing America’s children towards a healthier lifestyle. They’re so unhappy, in fact, that a petition to “disinvite” her from performing the National Anthem at the president’s inauguration was recently posted on We The People.

    “Knowles is renting her image to a product that may one day be ranked with cigarettes as a killer we were too slow to rein in. From saying, as she once did in referring to Let’s Move, that she was “excited to be part of this effort that addresses a public health crisis,” she’s become part of an effort that promotes a public health crisis,” wrote New York Times columnist Mark Bittman.

    The petition, created by “The Family Dinner” author Laurie David, was pulled down three days after it was posted to We The People, a public site for government-related issues. The White House released a statement regarding their decision to pull the petition, saying that Beyonce’s performance is “not something the White House actually has jurisdiction over. Selecting performers is a function of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, not the White House. We the People’s terms of participation state that users cannot post “petitions that do not address the current or potential actions or policies of the federal government.”

    Beyonce’s deal with Pepsi is worth around $50 million, but some of that will go into her future creative endeavors rather than straight into her bank account. In exchange, she’ll appear in their ads, on the sides of Pepsi cans and bottles, and will appear in a Super Bowl performance.