Big Day Out Release Beenie Man Statement

The Big Day Out have been forced to issue a statement in the face of growing concern for it's choice to include controversial artist Beenie Man in it's 2010 line-up.

Beenie Man came under fire a couple of years ago for his use of hateful and homophobic lyrics in his music, often inciting the murder of gays. He has since allegedly signed a treaty of sorts called the "Reggae Compassionate Act" vowing to no longer use murderous and homophobic lyrics in his music.  For more back story check his wiki page and Gaynz.co.nz has good coverage of controversy in NZ.

Here is the statement from the Big Day Out:

Beenie Man: statement from the Big Day Out

The Big Day Out Festival booked Jamaican Dancehall artist Beenie Man for the 2010 tour in the knowledge that the artist has a controversial past.

In response to the concerns that Beenie Man may perform homophobic material from his youth, the Big Day Out promoters say that as far as they could ascertain, that since signing the Reggae Compassionate Act in 2007, Beenie Man has stayed true to his word in not performing the offending songs.

The Big Day Out has today contacted Beenie Man to seek confirmation that Beenie Man stands by the Reggae Compassionate Act.

“The Big Day Out’s core values include those of tolerance and understanding,” says Auckland Big Day Out promoter Campbell Smith.

“We are responding to concerns that Beenie Man’s presence at the event may compromise those values and are directly investigating fears that he will perform material conflicting with our philosophy and his own undertakings pursuant to the RCA.

“It may take us up to a week to resolve this matter.”