A music festival in Florida has lost their headliner and dozens of other bands after announcing that Kyle Rittenhouse would appear as a special guest.
Shell Shock II, a heavy metal festival, was scheduled to take place later this month in Orlando with Evergreen Terrace as the headliner and dozens of other bands.
But after the shooter was revealed as one of the show’s guests in a now-deleted post shared on Reddit, bands said they were quitting in protest. Rolling stone reported.
Rittenhouse became a controversial figure when he was acquitted of all charges after fatally shooting two people during a protest against racial injustice in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020.
Ironically, the show is a charity event that raises money and awareness for veterans and first responders struggling with PTSD.
Shell Shock II, a heavy metal festival, was scheduled to take place in Orlando later this month with Evergreen Terrace as the headliner
The Florida music festival lost their headliner and dozens of other bands after announcing that acquitted gunman, Kyle Rittenhouse, would appear as a special guest
The acquitted shooter was revealed as one of the show’s guests in a now-deleted post shared on Reddit
The festival’s headliner and seven other bands, including Southpaw, Let Me Bleed and American Hollow, have since left the festival.
Evergreen Terrace took to Facebook to further explain their decision, sharing that they are “respectfully canceling the Shell Shock festival.”
“Evergreen Terrace has always supported and continues to support philanthropic events for veterans, PTSD awareness, child poverty and more, but we will not join an event that promotes an alleged murderer, such as capitalizing on their pseudo-celebrity….” , the post said.
“As advocates for freedom of expression, we respectfully cancel the Shell Shock festival. We will personally contribute to a veterans charity and urge you to do the same.”
“Lines we draw in the sand…depend on where we stand,” the post concluded.
Evergreen Terrace was supposed to be the headliner, but was the first to be dropped from the festival
Southpaw took to Instagram to share their statement, which read: “This is just not what we signed up for. Period’
The band Let Me Bleed also threw out the show, saying it was the best decision for them
Seventeen-year-old Rittenhouse tied himself up with an AR-15-style rifle and went to a protest against racial injustice in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020, where he shot three people and killed two.
The protests were critical of the police shooting of black man Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back and left paralyzed.
Rittenhouse argued he opened fire in self-defense, claiming he was protecting local businesses from the raucous protests and fearing for his life.
He was found not guilty on all five counts and officially acquitted of his crimes almost three years ago.
Southpaw took to Instagram to share their statement, which read: “This is just not what we signed up for. Period. Southpaw does not and will not get involved in politics, therefore we will not join it.”
‘Southpaw is about the music. Perseverance as an individual and the culture of hardcore.’
Let Me Bleed also said on Instagram: While we support freedom of expression, collectively we are not a political band. We make music that we hope everyone can enjoy and relate to.”
“It was only after we agreed to play the festival that these problematic and potentially alienating entities were used to market the show and we simply cannot condone that.”
But the festival still supports the now 21-year-old killer, despite the massive walkout.
Shell Shock is hosted by The Antihero Podcast, a Florida-based show, which broke their silence on the situation via an Instagram post on Tuesday.
‘We have been quiet. But we are preparing,” the post said.
Seventeen-year-old Rittenhouse tied himself up with an AR-15-style rifle and went to a protest against racial injustice in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020, where he shot three people and killed two.
Rittenhouse argued he opened fire in self-defense, claiming he was protecting local businesses from the raucous protests and feared for his life, and was found not guilty on all five counts and acquitted of his crimes nearly three years ago.
Shell Shock is hosted by The Antihero Podcast, a Florida-based show and called it an ‘ideological war’
Tyler Hoover, the founder and CEO of Shell Shock, criticized the band for perpetuating cancel culture and their decision to end the show.
‘The liberal mob tried to destroy Shell Shock. But we won’t allow it. This is now about more than a concert. This is an ideological war.”
Social media users seemed to disagree and wasted no time in sharing their thoughts in the comments.
One user wrote: ‘Pro free speech guys punch the air when a band disagrees with them.’
‘Liberal gang?! Just as delusional as MAGA as always. YOUR festival headliners and bands discovered who you are and what you represent and stepped away,” wrote another.
Tyler Hoover, the founder and CEO of Shell Shock, criticized the band for perpetuating cancel culture and their decision to end the show.
“The woke crowd tried to cancel Shell Shock because Kyle Rittenhouse will be there. They bullied ALL the bands into leaving the show. We will not discriminate against anyone,” Hoover said Surpass.
‘Anyone who wants to come to Shell Shock is very welcome. This is not a conservative event. This is an American event.”
Hoover took it a step further when he took to Instagram Tuesday night to call out people “talking” about the festival and Rittenhouse’s performance, Rolling Stone added.
“I’m here to tell you that you’re not punk and you’re not hardcore. You people, the people who are trolling and the people who talk nonsense, you are the mentally ill part of society. You are the ones being manipulated,” the post read.
“The lynch mob that is here to take down Shell Shock will not win. It doesn’t matter, because guess what? You can’t kill the ghost. You can’t kill punk. And you can’t fucking kill Shell Shock.”
Shell Shock II will still take place on October 19 with a different lineup of lower-profile artists, Rolling Stone reported.
The headliner has now been replaced by a Slipknot tribute band called SiC.