Glastonbury Festival received heat for having Kanye West as a headliner. Yes, organizer Emily Eavis has stated she had received death threats over the booking.
West recently released his new album, ‘Jesus is King’ and headlined the festival back in 2015. As a result, news hit the fan quite quickly. A hefty portion of people went as far as to sign a petition to have the rapper not play.
While the event is celebrating its 50th anniversary, the criticism that arose back then was insurmountable.
“The criticism we got that year was pretty extreme. And a lot of it was quite personal, as people knew I booked the acts. I was an obvious target. As the child of the founder of something, you’re always going to be criticized, because you’re perceived as doing things differently to how it was done before…it can get pretty unpleasant on social media” -Emily Eavis
We definitely feel it is hard to please everyone, as a festival’s goal is to try and bring the best possible experience musically and experientially. Back in 2015, organizers considered Kanye an exciting and innovative artist of his generation.
As our perceptions and music change over the years, lineups are what bring the crowd. I think we can appreciate the variety of festivals and talent that comes. We’ve followed artists and their news stories. So who can play when and where? Everyone should be entitled to their right to perform.
What do you think of this backlash? Do you think it was justified?