Action Bronson Removed From NXNE Main Stage

Action Bronson's NXNE performance has been official cancelled.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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The viral campaigns to get Action Bronson off of the main stage of NXNE have been successful. If you haven't been following the ongoing saga, here is what you need to know: earlier this week, Pitchfork reported that a woman named Erica Shiner started a petition on Change.org to remove the New York rapper from the annual event held in Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square. She stated that he "glorifies gang-raping and murdering women;" she cited the lyrics of his song "Consensual Rape" and the graphic video for "Brunch" as examples of his violent tendencies towards women. Shiner continued: "A musician who glorifies rape and violence against women should never be allowed to perform at a public space in our city." As of today, her petition has been signed 38, 081 times. 

Both Action the NXNE organizers took the defensive and released statements supporting the decision to have him perform. NXNE statement stated that it is important to recognize that every artists has their opinion and they release that through music; ultimately ending with this comment: “Those who are offended by an artist are invited to check out other Festival showcases, as NXNE will present hundreds of artists this June – some may be considered controversial, but most are just plain fun.”

Bronson responded in a number of humorous tweets, but then a fan released a passionate statement on the matter. Bronson said, "Erica Shiner and her parteners [sic] either knowingly or unknowingly manipulated the meaning of the lyrics do [to] describe the non-consensual drugging and gang raping of the woman in the lyrics, based on the single line ‘cuz I geeked her up on molly’." One of his fans even went far enough to start his own counter-petition, but only gained 132 supporters as of today. 

Unfortunately, Bronson's and his fans' efforts were all for naught, as the NXNE organizers have announced that he is no longer performing on the main stage. In their latest open letter, they acknowledge that a significant amount of attendees felt strongly about his presence: "A significant number of Torontonians have indicated their desire to have Action Bronson not perform at the Square. 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. We are not moving the Action show because we believe in censoring him or any other artists. In fact, we find the limiting of artistic expression distasteful. When artistic expression is limited, freedom and the evolution of ideas is often the casualty."

Unfortunate news for Bronson and his Toronto fanbase. You can read NXNE's full statement here.

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