“As soon as you’ve lost your major sponsors, you’re not going to be able to get any [replacements] back in that timeframe,” said a senior partner at a major entertainment law firm, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “The whole thing was premised on a house of cards.”
No, the whole thing was a huge gamble that no-one would dare object and if they did, a risk averse government wouldn’t dare take action because he’s a black celebrity.
The unprecedented collapse of a major moment in the summer’s festival calendar has left figures in the music industry reeling, as well as many scratching their heads over why Festival Republic, part of concert giant Live Nation, took a chance on such an openly controversial figure.
Because they thought they could get away with it, of course!
“Any lawyer with half a brain would have seen this coming,” the entertainment lawyer, whose clients include some of the biggest global names in the music industry, added.
It’s the entertainment business, brains aren’t required…
Festival Republic’s head, Melvin Benn, initially defended the booking, saying Ye, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, had been suffering a manic episode when the comments were made. “In the context of everything else that’s happening, it is difficult to see how that decision could be anything but highly controversial and lead to a political outcry,” Tim Jotischky, head of the reputation division at PR firm PHA, said. While he admired that Benn had stood by his case for Ye to headline, he found it unconvincing: “Wireless is probably not the right space to test his mental health.”
No-one was testing it, they were simply using it as a ‘Get out clause’ because that usually works.But not this time!
“The main lesson here is to never underestimate the strength of public opinion,” he said. “If you’re a promoter or festival organiser, you may now have to take a calculated risk with your bookings. That’s probably what Wireless has done. But let’s not pretend any of this is a big surprise.”
The only surprise here is coming from the people who arrogantly assumed cancel culture would never apply to them.
