sxsw spat
SXSW squares off with Gov. Greg Abbott over growing artist boycott
South by Southwest has responded to a post by Gov. Abbott skewering artist protestors.
A growing number of musicians are pulling out of South by Southwest (SXSW) due to concerns about the conference's ties to the military. Governor Greg Abbott and SXSW have now weighed in on social media.
Last week, CultureMap reported that a small number of artists had backed out of their official SXSW appearances, citing the conference's ties with the U.S. Department of Defense and the weapons manufacturer formerly known as Raytheon. The artists have also cited solidarity with Palestine as a reason for boycotting the conference.
Now that group is growing. The Austin for Palestine Coalition said Tuesday that more than 80 artists, musicians, and panelists have now joined the coalition's campaign, "War Mongers out of SXSW."
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On Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Greg Abbott posted the following message on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter:
"Bands pull out of SXSW over U.S. Army sponsorship. Bye. Don’t come back. Austin remains the HQ for the Army Futures Command. San Antonio is Military City USA. We are proud of the U.S. military in Texas. If you don’t like it, don’t come here."
Soon after, SXSW reposted the governor's tweet, starting, "SXSW does not agree with Governor Abbott."
The conference then wrote the following in a thread:
"We are an organization that welcomes diverse viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has long been our legacy. We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech.["]
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Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com. CultureMap has updated this article to provide new data.
