Anti-Flag, others boycotting Pittsburgh promoter following anti-violence protest comments
Bands have begun boycotting local Pittsburgh promoter Brian Drusky after he made a handful of comments in regards to anti-violence protests taking place across the nation.
This past Saturday, as the Pittsburgh City Paper reports, Drusky took to his personal Facebook account and posted a series of status updates that alluded to “die-in” protests (public gatherings in which participants lay themselves down in the middle of streets and sidewalks to represent those who have been killed by police). Among his comments, one in specific read, “Man i got pulled over last week and got a ticket because I was speeding. I’m going to go lay down in the middle of giant eagle as a protest! just just just because!”
After reading Drusky's posts, local music manager and publicist Elizabeth Kivowitz took screenshots and sent them to various artists and activists. This caused outrage among those who saw it, leading bands such as Pittsburgh natives Anti-Flag (photo: Rob Larson), rock group Chet Vincent And The Big Bend and singer/songwriter Roger Harvey to all canceled their upcoming shows with Drusky Entertainment.
Anti-Flag released this statement on the situation:
Through the cases of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and all those who have suffered at the hands of racism, police brutality and an unjust legal system, there is a loud and important public discourse. Based on recent actions, we feel that Brian Drusky, the owner of the company promoting our show in Pittsburgh, is on the wrong side of that conversation. For this reason we do not feel comfortable playing a show he’s promoting. Confronting bigotry and blind allegiance to power with education is something Anti-Flag believe in. We hope that Brian Drusky will have that education process happen in his future. While we believe in people’s ability to change and become educated, there must be consequences for the things that he said. As four individuals from Pittsburgh, PA, our power at times can feel limited; this is an instance where we can exercise our power by not working with Brian Drusky. Anti-Flag has always and will always stand with people who are fighting for justice and against those who belittle that fight. We’ll be announcing the new venue for our Feb. 6th Pittsburgh show in the next few days, along with refund information for those of you who have purchased tickets to the canceled Altar Bar show.
After seeing the backlash his comments caused, Drusky then responded with a lengthy apology, saying, “My remarks were an attempt to be funny. However, they were not funny to a lot of people because I made light of something that I didn’t understand fully.”
Despite his public statement, however, the outrage continued with people using the hashtag #BoycottDrusky throughout the social media sphere. Even a Facebook page under the name Boycott Drusky Entertainment managed to surface and grow to more than 700 likes.
Drusky has now revealed plans for a town-hall meeting and a benefit event for Leon Ford, an East Liberty man paralyzed after being shot by police during a traffic stop in Highland Park in 2012.
