A Florida music festival's headliner abruptly pulled the plug, leaving fans stunned as controversy swirled around a special guest announcement that no one saw coming.
On Monday, metalcore band Evergreen Terrace posted a statement to their Facebook account, notifying fans that they would no longer be performing at the Shell Shock music festival in Orlando, Florida. This comes after controversial right-wing figure Kyle Rittenhouse was announced as a special guest for the event.
They just pulled out pic.twitter.com/N2F3WrAUk3
— ⚡️ Harry Squatter ⚡️ (@ParksXcore) September 30, 2024
"Evergreen Terrace has always supported and continues to support philanthropic events for veterans, PTSD awareness, child poverty, and many more, but we will not align with an event promoting a perceived murderer such as Kyle Rittenhouse capitalizing off of their pseudo celebrity," they wrote. "Unfortunately we did not do our due diligence with this particular event. Even after they offered to pull Kyle from the event, we discovered several associated entities that we simply do not agree with. As advocates for free speech we are respectfully canceling the Shell Shock festival."
The band acknowledged the cause supported by the festival, which aims to raise funds to support those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), ending their statement by making known their intention to donate to a veterans charity in a personal capacity.
In August of 2020, Rittenhouse made headlines for shooting 3 people, 2 fatally, in Kenosha, Wisconsin at protests that were sparked by law enforcement's shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Illinois, in order to assist in protecting local businesses during the protests. While his defense attorneys argued that he acted in self-defense, many at the protests perceived Rittenhouse as an active shooter. He was acquitted on all charges.
Evergreen Terrace have been replaced with SiC Tx, a Slipknot cover band that will serve as the new headlining act for the music festival, However, since the announcement of Rittenhouse's involvement, other bands have also pulled out of performing at the festival. Event founder Tyler Hoover told OutKick that a total of 8 bands had dropped out.
"The woke mob tried to cancel Shell Shock because Kyle Rittenhouse will be in attendance. They bullied ALL the bands into quitting the show. We will not discriminate against anyone. Whoever wants to come to Shell Shock is more than welcome," said Hoover. "This is not a conservative event. This is an American event."
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