Photo via @ArielPink on IG
After attending Jan. 6’s demonstration-turned-riot at the U.S. Capitol, lo-fi indie artist Ariel Pink is feeling a backlash from fans and music industry professionals alike.
According to Pitchfork, the photograph confirming Pink’s attendance (alongside fellow musician John Maus) was taken by filmmaker Alex Lee Moyer and posted to Instagram with the caption “the day we almost died but instead had a great time.”
Victims of the violence at the Capitol include Brian Sicknick of Capitol Police, 42, who was “struck in the head with a fire extinguisher”, in what’s now being ruled as an act of homicide.
“i was in dc to peacefully show my support for the president… i attended the rally on the white house lawn and went back to hotel and took a nap. case closed,” Pink attempted to clarify via social media, asserting he did not partake in the violent, unlawful activity in the Capitol building.
In turn, Pink’s label Mexican Summer has distanced itself from the artist, writing via Twitter, “Due to recent events, Mexican Summer and its staff have decided to end our working relationship with Ariel Rosenberg AKA Ariel Pink moving forward.”
In the past, Pink has made his political beliefs known, tweeting on Dec. 30, 2020, “vote for trump.”
He echoed this sentiment in the fallout of his Jan. 6 attendance, tweeting once again on Jan. 7, “vote for trump.”
Due to recent events, Mexican Summer and its staff have decided to end our working relationship with Ariel Rosenberg AKA Ariel Pink moving forward.
— Mexican Summer (@MexicanSummer) January 8, 2021
28 Comments comments associated with this post
Dinahmoehumm
January 11, 2021 at 11:31 am“Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect and, unless checked, lead to a general disrespect for the rights of the citizen.” (George Orwell)
I’d never heard of Ariel Pink before today, but if you read the quote above from Orwell and apply it to this specific situation, it becomes clear to me that Ariel Pink’s freedom of speech, writing and action are all under threat BECAUSE OF WHERE HE WAS THAT DAY. His mere presence in Washington DC that day has cost him his livelihood. Let that sink in for a second.
Doug
January 11, 2021 at 12:00 pmIt’s a private company, bro. They can hire or fire whoever they want for whatever reason. It’s their right. Now if the GOVERNMENT was saying he could not do this or that due to his opinions, THAT would be a violation of his 1st amendment rights. Corporations are people (thanks supreme court), and people can say or do whatever they want to each other, as long as they don’t cause harm. He was free to choose to attend this, and his record label is free to drop him because of it. Ain’t that America?
Matt
January 11, 2021 at 12:18 pmDoug, you nailed it.
RD
January 17, 2021 at 1:11 amWhen you have fought for and shed blood for this country to keep ALL SPEACH FREE!! (WHICH A. PINK’S WAS, BY JUST BEING THERE AND NOT STROMING THE CAPITAL TO SHOW HIS SUPPORT FOR A PRESIDENT) maybe his former Indie Label KEITH AND ANDRES DOMINGO should drop all their artist as well as all the majors and the Hip Hop industry labels as well, for their artist lyrics being abusive and slandering to women of all colors with Rape filled lyrics..FREEDOM OF SPEACH IS NOT FREE, SO IT SEEMS..There is an old saying that i find very true in this instance for all who have treated this artist with hate and threats..When a man was beaten near death by what he thought were his friends, when they were demonstrating in violent way the year before and now started beating him at another protest (DON’T YOU REMEMBER ME , I WAS WITH YOU LAST YEAR. Take this as a warning, ALL OF YOU!!..This all can turn around on you and your families in a heart beat. I have been around for 65 years and it has happened throughout history..You might believe your on the right side by piling on this young man, but you will be next..THAT IS A FACT…Don’t worry Mr. Aerial Pink Rosenberg..We will support you through this..(KINDNESS TRUMPS HATE)..Some of us are working on major financial support and we will find you another LABEL WHO HOLD OUR RIGHTS AS AMERICANS TO HEART..VERY FEW ARE OUT THERE RIGHT NOW, BUT IT WILL BE DONE in the US or Abroad..75 MILLION + HAVE YOUR BACK…..GO FUND AERIAL PINK.ALL 75 MILLION PLUS AND ANYONE AROUND THE WORLD WHO CHERISHES DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM.
Brian
January 11, 2021 at 2:11 pmGay. Wedding. Cake. Football players kneeling. You CANNOT argue that a baker has the right to not bake a cake for homosexuals, and that football players shouldn’t advocate for their positions while at work, and then question an independent businesses decision to cut ties with someone they don’t want to be affiliated with.
paul
January 12, 2021 at 11:19 amthe traitor is still able to speak his mind, and people are free not to do business with traitors. CRYBABIES! WHAAAA!
Kevin Bender
January 15, 2021 at 8:17 amDefine “traitor”, genius. He attended a rally
RD
January 18, 2021 at 11:49 amKevin,
Couldn’t have stated it better to Paul my friend. As i stated in my last comment. I have been on this earth many, many years. What i forgot to mention to those who have never been on the receiving end of a Bullet Round from someone in a foreign SOCIALIST land trying to take you out, while you try to save the people from their government trying to out right murdering them for their belief of FREE SPEECH and before this loved our system, FREEDOM AND FREE SPEECH HAS IT’S PRICE. Maybe all young people in the nation should be forced to spend 2 to 4 years in the military as part of living in a Free Nation.Hmmm FREE? but them that wouldn’t make it a FEE NATION and most would weep like the true children they are..after all moving out to mommy’s house wouldn’t be a part of their life’s agenda.
KEVIN..YOUR THE TRAITOR .A TRAITOR OF THE CONSTITUTION, WHICH I’M SURE YOU AND MANY YOUNG POPLE HAVE NEVER TAKEN THE TIME TO READ THROUGH..AFTER ALL IT’S NOT THE “LORD OF THE RINGS” read..
STAND UP YOUNG PEOPLE FOR YOUR CONSTITUTION, or you will be using RUBBLES OR YED CURRENCY in the future as your U.S. CURRENCY in the future..
Roger Moore
January 14, 2021 at 5:24 pmwhy was anyone in DC that day? What was the point of the rally? to disrupt the electoral vote. HE WAS THERE TO INTEFERE WITH DEMOCRACY. 1st Amendment refers to the government, just like guns. A private business can ban guns from their establishment. What kind of socialist wouldn’t want private companies to be allowed to make run themselves how they see fit?
SPIKENYC
January 11, 2021 at 11:54 amLooking forward to the Ariel Pink / Zach Deputy tour!
Bwahaaa!
Dinahmoehumm
January 11, 2021 at 12:05 pmDoug, would you be saying that if he’d been dropped by his record label for attending a BLM rally? I doubt it “bro.”
^^^ This fucking guy
January 11, 2021 at 12:11 pmWhen did BLM storm The Capitol armed to the teeth, and on the hunt for politicians? Oh right, they didn’t. Get outta here with that false equivalency nonsense. Rally and protest isn’t the same as a riot. Got it now? Ok, thanks, bye!
Jay
January 12, 2021 at 11:34 amBLM has done much more harm to this country and you’re absolutely blind if you can’t see it. Tens of millions in damages throughout cities. Large parts of downtown Louisville will take years to recover due to BLM riots. Your claim of Trump supporters being “armed to the teeth” is without evidence.
me
January 12, 2021 at 1:18 pm@ Jay… your comment makes me want to puke. A man wants nothing more than to be treated fairly yet a country led by a racist President isn’t willing to offer that. Yet a bunch of douche bags who call themselves patriots but don’t believe in science or care about their fellow citizens as they cry about THEIR loss of freedom storm a symbol of this country’s freedom are doing the right thing? Like a hero wouldn’t label themselves as such, neither would a true patriot… only a self-absorbed loser would. Armed to the teeth, maybe not but at that point, aren’t you splitting hairs? Yea, it’s us who are blind Jay…
John Moore
January 13, 2021 at 12:43 pmBlm never killed cops!
Paterick Henry
January 15, 2021 at 10:14 amRight on ,Pigs in a blanket fry them like bacon,i guess thats one way to support law enforcement. over 26 people where killed in there “peaceful demonstration” and over 1 billion dollars in damages , business destroyed, police stations burned to the ground, idiots taking over a city blocks, but thats right it was all peaceful. I am totally against what happened in DC, That was wrong, but this cancel culture is so Orwelling its scary, if you don;t think like they do your called every name in the book and ostracized by corporations,business,people who are so woke its sicken who have no backbone to think on their own. Its over for this country as we know ,i give it 6-12 months for a very radical change and not for the good, I guess we’ll see.
roger moore
January 14, 2021 at 5:27 pmBLM was about police abuse of power. Their voices were not being heard. They were protesting against a FACTUAL EVENT. Please tell me how a white male majority is not having it’s voice heard
Isaac
January 11, 2021 at 12:11 pmDoug wouldn’t need to say it, because BLM is not MAGA. Nor would Orwell, who also wrote, “When I joined the militia I had promised myself to kill one Fascist — after all, if each of us killed one they would soon be extinct.” Then he went to Spain. Not all struggles are equal, and not all participation in struggle need be shunned.
paul
January 12, 2021 at 11:16 amseems you dont know what the definition of communism is. moronic statement
Isaac
January 12, 2021 at 11:33 amA society in which workers own the means of production?
me
January 11, 2021 at 1:03 pm@Dina… either you are simply stupid (though I doubt it), or you are an antagonist (more likely). Quote Orwell all you want, spout your inept arguments all you want but, simply put, you are using illogical arguments… let that sink in. That Trump gathering, whether participants went as far as murdering a Capital Police officer, or merely in attendance, were ALL part of what took place… there is very little difference between them and a get-away driver in a bank robbery where someone is murdered inside the bank. Each and every participant has some level of blood on their hands because they chose to go to an event which was based on lies and deceit. As I mentioned previously, there is some level of pity that I believe people should have on some of that crowd because they have been duped, conned and otherwise pulled into what is essentially a cult. To answer the question you posed to me in that comment, no I don’t think 70 million need to be reprogrammed… personally, I think about half are some form of racist scum and though our Constitution allows them some form of protection to speak the crap they do, they are simply mentally defected scum. I also believe some of those 70 million are our neighbors and business partners who voted Trump for political, business and/or social reasons. This group is what I think of as the Right who I and many others disagree with but who are typically decent people that see things differently (and have every right to do so)… and then there is that disillusioned group who has been suckered into the Trump cult… who don’t wear masks yet say they would if Trump told them to, who agree with Trump until the very end yet have no valid points as to why… that is the group who needs to be deprogrammed because they are no different than those who drank the kool-aid at Jonestown. Both groups were searching for something and while in a weak moment thought they’d found it and, thanks to both Jim Jones and Donald Trump, they were programmed into not letting go of a false promise. With Jim Jones’ group, it literally cost them their lives. And with Trump’s group, there is no reason it shouldn’t cost them their livelihoods if that is what a business or ticket buyer decides is in their best interest. As for your BLM vs. Trump scum, that is a cowardly comparison. Black people have been treated like second class citizens since the time they were bumped up to that level. One might argue that I just said they were bumped up, using it as proof of them being treated better… that is the type of rationale that those who need to be deprogrammed have… black people, all races of people need to be treated with the same fairness that white people are. Black people are simply asking for equal rights. They are not being treated that way and it’s easily provable… meanwhile, the Capitol gets stormed, people die and it’s all because of conspiracy theories that have been debunked. It’s time to started treating people with different colored skin equally and time to start treating racist scum the same way that child molesters are treated… ostracize them, hire someone else. I’m guessing you will try to twist my words but let me be clear… we as a society need to be careful about how we treat each other but there is low hanging fruit that can be easily identified as bad… child molesters, murderers and racists. None deserve a place in society until they can accept society. Lastly, why is it that someone who does wrong shouldn’t be punished? The fact that you would question me there is why I suggest that you are nothing more than an antagonist which is simply a fancy word for being a troll.
Ariel Pink is soft as fuck
January 11, 2021 at 1:53 pmThe label was Mexican summer! Does he have a song about Paying for the wall? Or mexicans are all rapist?
Dixie Lee
January 12, 2021 at 12:06 amHow’s everybody’s free trial of communism going so far?
paul
January 12, 2021 at 11:13 amThey are traitors and anyone who supports this crap is a traitor.
Dixie lee says Commies did it! Nazis are cool
January 12, 2021 at 1:55 pmDixie lee is just mad cause this sets the Nazi scumbag movement back a lil as you guys continue to look stupid as fuck and always have
Lame
January 12, 2021 at 8:59 pm@ME you sound like an over educated under paid and narrow city view liberal… have you ever had a conversation with someone who is not a liberal? Seems like you have no tolerance for the views of others and feel free to insult then just because you disagree. You hurl incorrect statements as if they were truth. Where I agree with you – Black people are treated differently… Mostly by democrats! “the enemy of the black man is the white liberal” – Malcom X
LAME
January 13, 2021 at 9:52 pmDONALD TRUMP MAKES ME HARD!!!
Roger Moore
January 14, 2021 at 5:21 pmWhat a dummy. This is a reminder that you don’t need to post every detail of your life on social media to get attention, attention goes both ways.