Frank Turner Launches Scathing Attack On "Disrespectful" Nicki Minaj
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Written by Elliott Batte
Folk/punk singer-songwriter Frank Turner has launched a scathing attack on Nicki Minaj on his website, after her ‘rude’ and ‘selfish’ behavious backstage at T in the Park ended with a Twitter fiasco as ravenous Nicki Minaj fans hit back at his claims.
Turner started his rant after apparently witnessing Nicki Minaj being ‘a dick’ to her own crew and everyone around at the backstage area of T in the Park, and immediately took to Twitter to express his disgust at her behaviour. But, messing with someone who has 13million Twitter followers on Twitter inevitably ends with a barrage of angry fans - who Turner described as ‘semi-literate’ - giving you abuse back. Now, he’s used his own website as a means to attack the star.
“So the last 12 hours have been interesting. I posted some thoughts on some shenanigans I witnessed backstage at T in the Park, and then got inundated with poorly-written bilge for a while on Twitter. I have no interest in rehashing the specifics of what happened, it’s not, in itself, a massive deal to me. I still don’t really know who Nicki (sic) Minaj is, and I don’t really care. I have no opinion on her music, for all I know she’s a genius. Good for her.
“The central point I wanted to make, and the thing that got me pissed off in the first place, is about respect. A lot of bands (and me) spend a lot of time talking about respect for the people who listen to your music, the people in front of the stage, the “fans” (I still hate that word) or whatever, and rightly so; personally, I feel that showing up late and not apologizing is a little weak. But the thing that got to me yesterday was more about respect for a different group of people: the crew.
“There are an awful lot of people who work on making shows and festivals happen who don’t get to stand in the middle of the stage and bask in anyone’s adulation. In fact, it’s the vast majority of people. This includes my crew (sound guy, guitar tech etc.), the stage hands, the promoter who books the show, and the hundreds of people who run the backstage organization, and more. These people all work their arses off, they’re there from first thing in the morning to last thing at night, and they don’t get paid as much as the musicians on the stage. Without them, nothing would get done, there would be no shows for anyone to enjoy. I couldn’t do what I do without my crew.”
He added finally: “Running a festival is a logistical nightmare; it takes a lot of people an awful lot of time to make sure everything runs even vaguely smoothly. If there’s one person in the midst of this who has a pretty easy, highly paid job (show up, mime, go home) who refuses to do this, and thereby fucks up the day of all the hard-working, sleep-deprived, exhausted, under-appreciated festival crew, well, that pisses me off. It means everyone has to do a ton more work just to make sure that the people at the festival and all the other bands don’t have their day ruined. For some reason, doing this when you’re holding a microphone makes you “artistic”, “difficult” or maybe a “Diva”. In any other walk of life it’s called being rude, selfish and inconsiderate.”
What do you think of the comments? Let us know in the comments section below. If you’re a Frank Turner fan, you can catch him touring the UK later this year - check the dates and details below to find tickets.
Mon August 20th 2012 - Roundhouse, London
Sun November 11th 2012 - Rock City, Nottingham
Mon November 12th 2012 - O2 Academy, Leeds
Tue November 13th 2012 - O2 Academy, Liverpool
Wed November 14th 2012 - Brangwyn Hall, Swansea
Thu November 15th 2012 - Hexagon, Reading
Sat November 17th 2012 - O2 Academy, Newcastle
Sun November 18th 2012 - HMV Picture House, Edinburgh
Mon November 19th 2012 - O2 Academy, Sheffield
Tue November 20th 2012 - Open, Norwich
Thu November 22nd 2012 - Winter Gardens, Margate
Fri November 23rd 2012 - Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
Sat November 24th 2012 - Assembly, Leamington Spa
Sun November 25th 2012 - Engine Shed, Lincoln
Mon November 26th 2012 - O2 Academy, Oxford
Wed November 28th 2012 - Corn Exchange, Brighton
Thu November 29th 2012 - Guildhall, Southampton
Fri November 30th 2012 - Hall For Cornwall, Truro
Sat December 1st 2012 - Pavillion, Bath
Thu August 16th 2012 - Cheese and Grain, Frome
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