Tom Morello Says He Was Working Behind the Scenes to Get Barclay Dropped as a Sponsor for Download Festival
Since the beginning of the Download Festival boycott over the sponsorship from Barclay’s bank, I’ve been wondering out loud why Tom Morello, who was booked for the festival, wasn’t joining in the boycott. Morello has a long history of radical left-wing activism, and it seemed to only make sense that he would join the bands taking a stand against Barclays. And, as Morello made announcements about his upcoming single and his recent collaboration with Def Leppard, it started to seem strange that the guitarist wasn’t at least speaking out in support of the boycott as well.
Well, we finally have an answer, as Morello broke his silence on the matter yesterday after Barclays made the decision to suspend all festival sponsorship in response to the backlash. Apparently, Morello has been working hard behind the scenes to get Barclays removed from the festival. Here’s what Morello had to say on Twitter:
“BREAKING: Barclays ends sponsorship of @DownloadFest @IsleOfWightFest & @LatitudeFest! A bank funding war crimes has no place at music festivals. The fact that Download has listened to its musicians and cut ties with Barclays Bank is a testament to the power of artists taking collective action for human rights. I’ve been pushing hard for this behind the scenes for some time and I salute all the artists who have taken a stand to help make this historic withdrawal happen.”
Some people in the comments section were quick to criticize, with one person pointing out that lesser-known bands sacrificed their fee in the name of what they believed in, while Morello will still be playing the festival and getting paid for it. But given how consistent Morello has been in his activism, I believe him that he’s been working hard on this issue, and his behind-the-scenes pressure might have done as much or even more than the boycott itself. In any case, Bands Boycott Barclays, the movement behind the boycott, thanked Morello in their Instagram story, so the story has a happy ending and we’ll just leave it at that.
