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Mexican Summer Drops Ariel Pink From Label After Appearance At Trump Rally, Iced Earth Releases Statement On Capitol Attack
– Ariel Pink
Ariel Pink has lost his record deal after he was spotted attending President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 rally near the White House – though the lo-fi singer/songwriter insists he wasn’t part of the deadly storming of the United States Capitol.
Mexican Summer announced on Twitter Friday, “Due to recent events, Mexican Summer and its staff have decided to end our working relationship with Ariel Rosenberg AKA Ariel Pink moving forward.”
The indie label was supposed to release a handful of Ariel Pink’s albums on vinyl Jan. 29 including Sit N’ Spin and Oddities Sodomies Vol. 3.
The music world was alerted to Ariel Pink’s presence in Washington, D.C., that fateful day after filmmaker Alex Lee Moyer posted an image on Instagram with the singer/songwriter and fellow musician Maus in a D.C., hotel room, according to Variety. The caption on the post reportedly said: “The day we almost died but instead had a great time.”
Ariel Pink confirmed he was in the crowd of thousands of Trump supporters on the Ellipse, just south of the White House, with a tweet Jan. 7 that said: “i was in dc to peacefully show my support for the president. i attended the rally on the white house lawn and went back to hotel and took a nap. case closed.”
In another tweet he said, “its true- i dont and never have advocated for violent confrontation or rioting. must be my boomer upbringing.”
Ariel Pink was most recently represented by United Talent Agency. Pollstar reached out to UTA but hadn’t heard back at press time. His page is no longer listed on UTA’s website.
Meanwhile, guitarist Jon Schaffer of Tampa, Fla., metal band Iced Earth was pictured in photos of the mob of rioters at the Capitol Jan. 6 while wearing a hat bearing the logo of Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia organization.
Loudwire reported that Schaffer’s photo is featured on the FBI’s website in the “Most Wanted” section as part of a gallery titled “Violence at the United States Capitol.” His image is listed as Photograph No. 25 in the “Seeking Information” subcategory.
Schaffer’s Iced Earth bandmates released a statement Jan. 9 via bassist Luke Appleton’s Instagram account about the Capitol attack – without naming the guitarist, as first reported by Consequence of Sound.
“We want to thank those of you who have sent words of support in recent days. Some of you have been concerned by our silence, which we understand. We needed some time to properly process the information and find out some facts before we made a statement.
“We absolutely DO NOT condone nor do we support riots or the acts of violence that the rioters were involved in on January 6th at the US Capitol building. We hope that all those involved that day are brought to justice to be investigated and answer for their actions.
“With broken hearts we are sending our love and compassion to everyone who has felt pain from the events on January 6th. We are deeply saddened and our hearts go out to the families of the lives lost that day. There are really no proper words to console. Just know we are with you in your shock, grief and pain. Much love to you all.
Stu, Luke, Jake, Brent”
Pollstar reached out to Iced Earth’s management but did not hear back at post time.
Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died Jan. 7 because of injuries sustatined during the attack at the Capitol and officer Howard Liebengood died by suicide Jan. 9 after being on duty during the attack, according to CBS News. One of the rioters was killed after being shot by Capitol Police and three other rioters died due to medical emergencies.