Fri 27 Nov 2015 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Controversial reggae singer, Beenie Man, has been taken off the Raggamuffin Festival lineup and replaced with out lesbian sensation Diana King following concerns raised by GayNZ.com on behalf of the LGBTI community. Raggamuffin had included the Grammy Award-winning artist Beenie Man in the lineup, after being assured that his past homophobic comments and lyrics had been retracted. Seeking clarification, GayNZ.com Daily News raised concerns with Ragamuffin Festival organisers and who offered Beenie Man an opportunity to publicly state his support of the LGBTI community and retract his past lyrics. His unwillingness to answer questions about his past lyrics and his current stance on the LGBTI community, despite a scheduled interview, has pressed Ragamuffin to remove him from the lineup. Speaking very briefly to a GayNZ.com Daily News journalist Beenie Man denied he was homophobic and wrote homophobic lyrics in the past before hanging up just seconds into the scheduled fifteen minute phone interview arranged to discuss the subject. Lesbian reggae artist Diana King will be replacing Beenie Man. Raggamuffin spokesperson Brotha D (Danny Leaoasavaii) says: “We took the concerns of the gay community very seriously and sought to address them with Beenie Man. “Raggamuffin is a family festival and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender or sexuality. After being made fully aware of his past comments and lyrics, and continued homophobic attitude the Raggamuffin team made the decision to remove him from the festival line-up.” Beenie Man has been replaced by lesbian Jamaican reggae artist Diana King, the first Jamaican artist to publicly come out. Her chart-topping hits include ‘Shy Guy’ and a cover of Dione Warwick’s I Say a Little Prayer.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 27th November 2015 - 8:44am