Backlash Against Kanye West in Toronto Is Real!!!
Yes it’s true, 45,000 Sign Petition Against Kanye Closing Pan American Games, the Backlash Against Kanye West in Toronto Is Real as fans are OUTRAGED.
When it comes to Toronto Canada and the Pan American Games, Kanye West is apparently NOT the ticket.
CelebNMusic247.com has learned that since the 2015 Pan Am Games promoters announced Kanye West as the headliner to close the games 45,000 people have signed a petition against Ye.
The games have been taking place in Toronto since July 10. On Wednesday and will run until the closing ceremony on July 26 with Kanye West as the headliner and Pitbull and Serena Ryder as co-performers.
It’s only West’s participation that has caused outrage because of his controversial reputation, so a petition was created in Change.org raising the issue that he’s not Canadian.
UPDATE: Only 4,881 needed to reach 50,000 goal for petition to stand, but will the Pan American Games listen? There is still 9 days left until the closing performance in which Canadians want a Canadian like Drake to close the festival.
[rpi]
The petition’s mission statement reads:
“The Toronto Pan Am games have proven to be very important for Torontonians this year and have triggered a unified sense of pride in our city. It would only be just to ask a proud Torontonian (or even a Canadian for that matter) in the music industry to perform, such as Drake, Walk Off The Earth, Feist, Metric, Shania Twain, deadmau5, Crystal Castles, Zeds Dead, The Weeknd, Peaches, K’naan, and many more! The options for Toronto artists are far from limited and choosing someone like Kanye West raises several concerns among the people. Why was a local artist or group not chosen and supported, just as our local athletes are throughout the games? Toronto Pan Am Games organizing committee please reconsider your decision as we will NOT be attending Kanye West’s show.”
Of course, while Pitbull isn’t Canadian either, Ryder IS, having been born in Toronto, and organizers wanted to have an “international” lineup represented. The Pan Am Games, which are held in a different city every four years, are a global event, and the United States has more than 600 people participating, only second to Canada (720 team members). Nevertheless, the Change.org petition currently has more than 41,000 signatures.
While it remains to be seen if organizers will change course, similar petitions in the past have not had success. One targeting West’s Ottawa Bluesfest performance earlier this month had no change on the lineup, nor did another calling for West to be dumped as June’s Glastonbury headliner.
Bottom line is festival goers don’t have a taste for Kanye West these days, but he still seems to land top bill as the headliner for music festivals. It’s NOT his music, it’s his personality that weighs heavier in the eyes of fans, superseding his music.
That’s never a good look for an artist.
What do you think?
