Asher Roth Paid To Not Play

The campus’ events advisory committee canceled the rapper’s contract after finding some of his lyrics and past tweets “contradicted ASUU’s efforts to improve the campus climate,” ASUU President Ambra Jackson told the Daily Utah Chronicle.

The lyrics of note reportedly came from the song, “I Love College,” in which Roth repeats lyrics like, “I danced my ass off and had this one girl completely naked.” He also faced criticism a few years back for tweeting that he was “hanging with nappy headed hoes.” He later apologized and removed the post.

ASUU had originally planned to pay Roth $15,000 for the appearance but lowered the amount by half as a cancelation fee, according to documents the Chronicle obtained through an open records request.

Jackson added that students have the right to feel upset that money was spent on an artist who won’t be performing but “in the grand scheme we hope they feel respected by the decision to carry out the platforms we were voted in on,” she said, citing the school’s policies surrounding diversity and sexual assault prevention.

“Since we negotiate entertainment contracts on behalf of the university, we felt it was important to uphold the university’s reputation with booking agencies,” she said.

The school’s rebooted lineup for the Sept. 18 show included four local acts from Utah.