Artists including Squirrel Flower, Scowl, and Gel pull out of SXSW performances in support of Palestine
2024’s SXSW sponsorship from the U.S. Army and defense contractors has lead a handful of artist’s to pull out of official festival shows in protest. In protest Scowl and Gel announced Friday that they would be pulling out of their official SXSW shows. Flatspot records followed suit and announced that they would be removing their official showcase from SXSW and putting on a free all ages show separate from the festival.
As well as the U.S. Army, Defense contractor RTX (formerly known as Raytheon) is a sponsor of this year’s SXSW. In Scowl’s official statement posted on twitter, the band noted “We came to this decision in protest of the U.S. Army’s sponsorship of SXSW. As well as the involvement of RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace, and BAE Systems whom have direct ties to the manufacturing and supplying of weapons used against Palestinians.”
Squirrel Flower and Mamalarky announced early this week that they would be pulling out of the event as well. SXSW has already been a controversial event with artists receiving minimal pay for their performances leading to UMAW to lead a campaign in 2023 for fair pay from SXSW.
