The Weeknd, Belly cancel Kimmel performance because of Trump
ABC VIA AP
In this photo provided by ABC, Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, left, talks with host Jimmy Kimmel during a taping of the ABC television show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” today in Los Angeles.
INVISION VIA AP
In this Feb. 8 file photo, The Weeknd arrives at the 88th Academy Awards nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif.
NEW YORK » R&B singer The Weeknd and rapper Belly have canceled their performance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” because Donald Trump was set to appear on the episode.
The Oscar-nominated musicians were slated to record their performance today in Los Angeles for the late-night ABC show. Belly said he canceled because he didn’t want to share a stage with Trump and disagrees with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s views and beliefs.
“I feel like the way I was raised was to be able to see through all the titles in this world — from religion to race,” Belly said in a statement. “I just didn’t want to feel like I was a part of a celebration for somebody who has beliefs that majority of us don’t agree with.”
Trump has been criticized by some political rivals and voters for his comments on topics including women, refugees, immigrants and Muslims, such as when he said some Mexican immigrants in the U.S. illegally are “rapists” and when he called for a ban on Muslim immigration into the United States.
A Trump spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on The Weeknd and Belly.
The Jimmy Kimmel show had no comment, a representative said. Representatives for The Weeknd didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
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The Weeknd won two Grammy Awards earlier this year, including best urban contemporary album for “Beauty Behind the Madness.” Belly has co-written many of The Weeknd’s hits, including “Earned It,” ”The Hills,” ”Into the Night” and “Often.”
The Weeknd appears on Belly’s song “Might Not,” which they were set to perform on Kimmel’s show.
Belly, who’s signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation management, will release a new mixtape, “Another Day In Paradise,” on Friday.
“I’m here on a campaign of positivity and love and to contribute what I can to music,” Belly said. “I create songs people go to sleep and wake up to, songs that they fall in love to. For me, being Muslim and being somebody that appreciates my access here in America, I love the fact that I’m able to be here. To play my part in this business is a privilege and a beautiful thing. The fact that I could lose that ability through the actions of someone such as Donald Trump isn’t right to me. At all.”
Belly shared an Oscar nomination for best original song with The Weeknd for “Earned It,” which appears on the “Fifty Shades of Grey” soundtrack.
Belly and The Weekend are from Canada. Belly also co-wrote Beyonce’s “6 Inch,” which features vocals from The Weeknd and appears on her “Lemonade” album.
One response to “The Weeknd, Belly cancel Kimmel performance because of Trump”
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A pity. While I would never vote for the Donald, he is not all bad. For example he is basically the only candidate has said anything meaningful and critical of U.S. foreign policy. For example he has asked:
1 why must the United States lead the world everywhere on the globe and play the role of the world’s policeman, now for example, he says, in Ukraine? It’s a question. It’s worth a discussion.
2 NATO was founded 67 years ago to deter the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union ended 25 years ago. What is NATO’s mission? Is it obsolete? Is it fighting terrorism? No, to the last question, it’s not. Should we discuss NATO’s mission?
3. why does the United States always pursue regime changes? Iraq, Libya, Ukraine, and now it wants a regime change in Syria, Damascus. When the result is, to use Donald Trump’s favorite word, the result is always “disaster.”
4. why do we treat Russia and Putin as an enemy when he should be a partner?
5. nuclear weapons – and this is interesting. You remember he was asked, would he rule out using nuclear weapons – an existential question. He thought for a while and then he said, ‘No, I take nothing off the table.’ And everybody said he wants to use nuclear weapons! In fact, it is the official American nuclear doctrine policy that we do not take first use off the table. We do not have a no first use of nuclear weapons doctrine. So all Trump did was state in his own way what has been official American nuclear policy for, I guess, 40 or 50 years.
Questions taken from: https://consortiumnews.com/2016/05/22/trumps-five-questions-on-us-foreign-policy/
Point is the Donald has said a few things that should be discussed, not ignored.