Lorde: Roseanne Barr calls singer a 'bigot' for cancelling Israel show

Lorde's decision came after she received an 'overwhelming number of messages and letters'

Christopher Hooton
Tuesday 26 December 2017 10:34 GMT
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(Getty)

Emmy Award winner and loyal Trump supporter Roseanne Barr has called for a counter-boycott of Lorde after she cancelled a scheduled concert in Tel Aviv for political reasons.

The New Zealand singer said in a statement that she has decided not play in the Israeli city next summer following “lots of discussions”.

“Boycott this bigot: Lorde caves to BDS pressure, cancels Israel concert,” Barr wrote on Twitter, linking to The Jerusalem Post’s article on the matter.

When another user suggested the singer had been bullied by “trolls” from the Boycott, Divest, Sanction movement, Barr added (sic): “if they do not know enough about hating jews after WW2-they NEVER will-i say fuck them.”

The sitcom star has amassed a sizeable following on Twitter thanks to her public support for Trump and pro-Israel stance.

Lorde joins artists including Roger Waters and Elvis Costello in boycotting Israel over its treatment of Palestinians.

Lorde said that after having “lots of discussions” about the matter, “I’m not too proud to admit I didn’t make the right call on this one.”

The cancellation was welcomed by members of the BDS movement. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel posted a statement on Twitter thanking the artist for “heeding appeals from your fans against Israel’s art-washing of its brutal oppression of Palestinians.”

Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev said she hoped Lorde would reconsider her decision.

“Lorde, I expect you to be a pure heroine, like the title of your first album, a pure culture hero, free of any external — and if I may add, delusional — political considerations,” Regev said in a statement.

The Israeli concert promoter responded to the cancellation: “We forgive her.”

Additional reporting by AP.

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