Urie is dividing people with recent comments | Photo: YouTube/NME
People are calling out Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie for comments about Roseanne Barr and kneeling NFL players in a recent interview.
In the same Paper Magazine interview in which Urie came out as pansexual, he also talked about ‘cancel culture’.
This is the idea, often seen on Twitter, of figures saying problematic things and fans ‘canceling’ them.
‘Here’s where I draw the line,’ he began. ‘If the liberals are saying, “Hey why are you fining these NFL players [for kneeling during the anthem]?” and at the same time, “Fire Roseanne!,” they are doing the exact same thing that the conservatives are doing.’
In May, ABC canceled their reboot of Roseanne after star Roseanne Barr made racist comments about Valerie Jarrett, a former senior advisor to President Barack Obama.
Urie spoke about ‘taking people’s careers away’.
‘I get it but we have to understand, yes, Roseanne made the worst tweet. But we’re taking people’s careers away. I don’t know where to draw the line because I do think obviously that’s horrible, but I think we need to look at patterns. If a person says something a few times but they are not acting out on it… it’s a very sticky situation.’
Notably, ABC decided to bring the show back — sans Barr — and saved many people’s jobs.
What’s the issue and how are fans reacting?
A lot of people are expressing sadness over Urie’s comments, especially after celebrating his coming out.
I was celebrating Brendon Urie coming out as Pansexual until I read the part in the interview where he conflates Black footballers kneeling over racial injustices to Roseanne losing her show for calling a Black woman an ape.
Where is this freedom of speech for Colin Kaepernick? pic.twitter.com/lK9UXMe8KU
— Taneka Stotts [𝓉𝓸𝓶𝓫𝓪𝒆] @ SDCC (@TanekaStotts) July 7, 2018
Colin Kaepernick was the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers when he ignited a firestorm of controversy in 2016.
When the US national anthem was played before games, he refused to stand and instead kneeled. He did this as form of protest against police brutality shown towards black people in the country.
It prompted other players to kneel — including in different sports, such as soccer player Megan Rapinoe. Fans were split and it also entered the realm of politics, where Donald Trump criticized players who kneeled.
Most recently, the NFL established a new rule where players cannot kneel on field, but they can remain in the locker room for the anthem. If these rules are broken, teams could face fines.
As Twitter user @TanekaStotts continues: ‘Queerness does not absolve bad takes or privileged opinions.’
This is still brewing so many feelings, but mostly just utter crushing disappointment.
It’s a constant reminder that our community can’t enjoy even a moment without having to look at the finer details.
Queerness does not absolve bad takes or privileged opinions.
— Taneka Stotts [𝓉𝓸𝓶𝓫𝓪𝒆] @ SDCC (@TanekaStotts) July 7, 2018
Other people simply expressed their disappointment.
*deep sigh* https://t.co/ICkXYKyncn
— the hood oracle (@madblackthot) July 7, 2018
Brendan urie really came out as pansexual and racist in one single interview
— Alicia (@nerdjpg) July 8, 2018
Other fans are defending the singer.
what time is it?
12
11 ^ 1
10 | 2
9 ⊙–> time for brendon urie to stop getting unnecessary hate
8 4
7 5
6— maddie! (@URIESBLUNT) July 8, 2018
|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|
brendon
urie
is NOT
cancelled
|＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿|
(__/) ||
(•ㅅ•) ||
/ づ— sofia (@ddyinginla) July 9, 2018
In 2015, Urie received heat when he compared Caitlyn Jenner to Rachel Dolezal (a white woman who said she was black and ‘transracial’) during a periscope.
Brendon Urie compared Caitlyn Jenner to Rachel Dolezal and I threw up in my mouth congrats on being the next Drake Bell
— faithfull (@snacdaddy) June 17, 2015
Urie later said he ‘didn’t mean to offend anyone’.
I didn’t mean to offend anyone, I just think you should be who you wanna be and forget about anyone who says you can’t.
— Brendon Urie (@brendonurie) June 17, 2015
