has issued an apology to fans after he wore a T-shirt bearing a Nazi swastika with the intent of condemning facism.
The 27-year-old rapper, real name Tyron Frampton, performed at the Osheaga music festival in Montreal, Canada on Sunday.
He appeared on stage wearing a white T-shirt with a large swastika in the middle of a red circle. He has since revealed that he was attempting to denounce facism but many festival-goers were confused about his stance.
Explaining his choice of attire, Slowthai wrote in a statement shared on Twitter: ‘I’m sorry to anyone who is offended by me wearing an anti-fascist/anti-regime T-shirt and the use of the symbol it represents.
‘I want you to know I stand firmly against antisemitism and fascism of any kind, something the T-shirt was meant to illustrate with the word “destroy” above the symbol.’
Organisers for the festival had earlier said in their own statement: ‘A performer appeared on stage Saturday wearing a controversial T-shirt displaying a swastika that caused confusion. The T-shirt denounces the regime.
‘We sincerely apologise to anyone who may have misinterpreted this message and felt hurt.’
The musician’s T-shirt attracted multiple complaints on social media, with human rights organisation Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) – which aims to counter racism and anti-semitism – tweeting: ‘While @slowthai’s intent at @osheaga may have been to denounce Nazism, the message was very badly executed.
‘This ambiguous display of the swastika was frightening for Jews and others and should never have made it to the stage.’
One Twitter user commented: ‘Absolutely horrible response. He should have never made it on stage wearing that shirt. Everyone knows what a swastika stands for in a world post World War II. Everyone involved in this should feel ashamed.’
Another weighed in: ‘Today at the @osheaga music fest, @slowthai performs wearing a #swastika t-shirt. At what point does his manager, festival organizers, or stage managers step in and say this symbol of hate has no place at the festival, in #Quebec, or in #Canada?’
Slowthai found himself at the centre of controversy in September 2020 after he was accused of beingat the NME Awards. The Ladies rapper later apologised and he had grown from the incident.
