Pepsi-Sponsored Concert in Uganda Calls for Gay People to Have Their Throats Slit?
UPDATE: Pepsi has released a statement condemning the lyrics of Beenie Man and pledging tighter control over events sponsorship. To view this statement, click here.
Pepsi has long been a supporter of LGBT rights, proudly holding a reputation as a corporate superstar when it comes to championing the rights of LGBT employees. That's why it's particularly troubling to see reports coming out that the soft drink giant sponsored a concert last Saturday in Uganda, where musicians were calling for gay people to have their throats slit from the stage.
Say what? Yup, and Box Turtle Bulletin has the scoop. It was a concert series featuring Jamaican artist Beenie Man, as well as a handful of local performers in Uganda. Beenie Man has made a career for himself by writing songs where he advocates for gay people to be executed, for lesbians to be hung with rope, and for gay dee-jays to be murdered.
True to form, Beenie Man didn't disappoint in his Pepsi-sponsored performance in Uganda. Reports from the event have it that Beenie Man sung one of his classics, Mi Nah Wallah, where he calls for gay men to have their throats slit. The Daily Monitor also reports that Beenie Man gave a bit of a monologue about what he thinks about gay people.
"In my family, we don’t have any gay person but if you’re gay, my brother that’s not my fault," the paper reports Beenie Man as saying.
What does Pepsi think about all of this? Let's find out. Send them a note right now demanding that they clarify why their brand sponsored an event like this.
The sponsorship, and Beenie Man's performance, is all the more troubling given that Uganda is currently debating one of the harshest anti-gay laws that this planet has ever seen. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, if passed by Uganda's parliament, will institute the death penalty for certain members of Uganda's LGBT population. The bill will also institute mandatory jail sentences for anyone who identifies as LGBT, and will also throw straight allies in prison simply for standing up for their LGBT friends, family and neighbors.
It's a frightening bill that could have frightening human rights implications if it passes. Which is why this concert, and it's celebration from the stage at the thought of slitting the throats of LGBT people, is disturbing.
Pepsi, if it did sponsor this event, has some explaining to do. All indications seem to point toward the fact that Pepsi had an affiliation with this concert, including the fact that Beenie Man thanked Pepsi on his Facebook page for sponsoring the show. It's bad enough to sponsor a musician like Beenie Man who wants to see gay people dead.
It's even worse to sponsor such a show in a country that is literally considering legislation that would execute a fair number of LGBT citizens. Not cool, Pepsi, and not representative of the great work the company has done to champion LGBT equality here in the U.S.
Drop Pepsi a note and ask them to explain why their name was attached to this show.
Michael Jones
is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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