Grammy award-winning artist Lorde has canceled an upcoming show at Tel Aviv in protest of the Israeli government’s ill-treatment of Palestinians, per the request of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS).
Event organizers reached out to fans with an official statement on the show’s cancellation:
“We regret to announce the cancellation of the Lorde concert in Israel planned for June. The tickets already bought will be reimbursed within 14 business days. As to the circumstances that led to the cancellation of the show, Lorde is expected to publish a statement via Twitter soon.”
Soon after, Lorde indeed followed up with the reasoning for her cancellation:
“I’ve received an overwhelming number of messages & letters and have had a lot of discussions with people holding many views, and I think the right decision at this time is to cancel my show. I pride myself on being an informed young citizen, and I had done a lot of reading and sought a lot of opinions before deciding to book a show in Tel Aviv, but I’m not to proud to admit I didn’t make the right call on this one.”
In her sincere apology, Lorde concluded “I hope one day we can all dance.”
Other artists like Lauryn Hill, Elvis Costello, Roger Waters and Thurston Moore have also reportedly canceled shows under pressure from the boycott group BDS. Meanwhile, Radiohead, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga have rebuffed the boycott.
Many music industry execs have also countered the boycott with a petition that will âcontinue to work for a more peaceful future for Palestinians, Israelis, and the entire region.â Read the list of signatures here.
Lorde Cancels Tel Aviv Show
Here is @Lorde‘s statement on the cancellation of her Tel Aviv show, via Israeli PR for the concert. pic.twitter.com/Ph0uGHRjCV
— Amy Spiro (@AmySpiro) December 24, 2017
Source: Newsweek, Deadline
