Lupe Fiasco was escorted off stage and out of the building at the Start Up Rock On inauguration party last night. He played his song, "Words I Never Said" repeatedly for 30 minutes before security guards went on stage and forced him off stage. Foreign Policy's Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) live tweeted from the event, reporting the following:
"So Lupe played one anti-war song for 30 min and said he didn't vote for Obama and eventually was told to move on to the next song."
"Lupe refused to move to the next song so a team of security guards came on stage and told him to go."
"Lupe Fiasco just got thrown off stage here at the Hamilton Live after he went on an anti-Obama diatribe mid set."
A statement from Start Up Rock On, does not dispute the fact that Fiasco's set was stopped, but tries to explain away the reason for the security incident. Here is the relevant part of their statement:
"Lupe Fiasco performed at this private event, and as you may have read, he left the stage earlier than we had planned. But Lupe Fiasco was not “kicked off stage” for an “anti-Obama rant.” We are staunch supporters of free speech, and free political speech. This was not about his opinions. Instead, after a bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance that left the crowd vocally dissatisfied, organizers decided to move on to the next act."
Whatever the reason for his ejection for the event, one thing cannot be disputed, Fiasco did start his set and was asked to leave before he finished it. Fiasco is a vocal critic of President Barack Obama and it is a mystery why he would be asked to perform at an event for a leader that he opposes. There is no public statement from Fiasco yet.
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