Emily Eavis, the daughter of the Glastonbury Festival’s founder, has come forward to comment on the petition calling for Kanye West’s removal from the festival, which now has over 120,000 signatures. Neil Lonsdale, the fellow who started the petition, says he did so as a joke, but now that it has been getting so much traction and attention, he has been encouraging more people to sign.
People always have problems with the Glastonbury lineup, but according to Eavis, this year’s response to the rapper’s involvement has been so overwhelming, she was compelled to comment. “I have such faith in humanity, but believe me, some of the vitriol being thrown around this week has made me question the dark underbelly of the web,” she wrote. “Who are those people silently shouting in disgust, throwing out threats from behind their screens? It certainly isn’t pleasant to be on the receiving end of that. I can’t even imagine how it makes Kanye feel.” Probably as great and self-important as he usually does, knowing Mr. West and his unshakeable ego.
She notes that most of the petition’s signers are not even people who will be attending the festival, and that since Kanye was announced for the show, they have only gotten a handful of requests for ticket refunds. She also says that Kanye was chosen to perform because of his talent as a musical artist, rather than his personal values. “I’ve seen people this week saying that Kanye shouldn’t appear because, in their opinion, he’s not a positive role model or because they think he’s too self-assured,” she said. “We book our acts by choosing the best and most challenging musicians on the planet – not by applying some kind of arbitrary morality test.”
Kanye clearly isn’t going anywhere, and audiences can expect him to perform at the festival, which will be going on from June 24 to June 28. Now the question is whether Yeezy will address the whole controversy during the performance…
[via The Guardian]
