(Photo credit: Picsol)
When influential artists like Elton John are asked to play concerts in Russia these days, each has to make a decision as to how to address the situation. Cher recently revealed that she was asked to open the Sochi Olympics and rejected the offer out of hand. Elton John spoke to The Guardian regarding his scheduled December concert in Moscow:
“I’m supposed to be going to Moscow in December,” he says. “I’ve got to go. And I’ve got to think about what I’m going to say very carefully. There’s two avenues of thought: do you stop everyone going, ban all the artists coming in from Russia? But then you’re really leaving the men and women who are gay and suffering under the anti-gay laws in an isolated situation. As a gay man, I can’t leave those people on their own without going over there and supporting them. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’ve got to go.”
I hope he can find a way to make an effective statement that will resonate.
[h/t Joe]
