Lorde Cancels Israel Concert Date Amid Protests
Lorde has canceled a scheduled tour date in Israel amid organized protests calling for artists to boycott playing shows in the country.
The singer wrote in a Sunday statement, as reported by the Jerusalem Post’s Amy Spiro, “i’ve received an overwhelming number of messages & letters and have had a lot of discussions with people holding many views, and i think the right decision at the time is to cancel the show.”
She added that, “i pride myself on being an informed young citizen, and i had done a lot of reading and sought a lot of opinions before deciding to book a show in tel aviv, but i’m not proud to admit i didn’t make the right call on this one.”
The artist had been set to play at the Tel Aviv Convention Centre on 6/5, one of dozens of dates scheduled for her Melodrama world tour.
Lorde ended her note saying, “tel aviv, it’s been a dream of mine to visit this beautiful part of the world for many years, and i’m truly sorry to reverse my commitment to come play for you. i hope one day we can all dance.”
On Dec. 20, the artist had replied to an open letter by a New Zealand site The Spinoff titled “Dear Lorde, here’s why we are urging you to boycott Israel.” At the time, Lorde wrote on Twitter: “Noted! Been speaking w many people about this and considering all options. Thank u for educating me i am learning all the time too.”
Here is @Lorde's statement on the cancellation of her Tel Aviv show, via Israeli PR for the concert. pic.twitter.com/Ph0uGHRjCV
— Amy Spiro (@AmySpiro) December 24, 2017
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.