A music festival in Florida lost its 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 set to take place in Orlando later this month with Evergreen Terrace headlining and dozens of other bands.
But after the shooter was revealed to be one of the show’s guests in a now-deleted post shared on Reddit, the gangs said they would walk out in protest, the rolling stone reported.
Rittenhouse became a controversial figure when he was acquitted of all charges after shooting and killing two people at a racial injustice protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020.
Ironically, the show is a charity festival that raises money and awareness for veterans and first responders battling PTSD.
Shell Shock II, a heavy metal festival, would be held in Orlando later this month with Evergreen Terrace as the headliner.
The Florida music festival has lost its headliner and dozens of other bands after announcing that acquitted shooter 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 and share that they have “respectfully canceled the Shell Shock festival.”
‘Evergreen Terrace has always supported and continues to support philanthropic events for veterans, PTSD awareness, child poverty and many more, but we will not align ourselves with an event that promotes an alleged murderer to cash in on his pseudo-celebrity. …’, the publication said.
‘As defenders of 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.”
“The lines we draw in the sand… depend on where we are,” the post concluded.
Evergreen Terrace was going to be the headliner, but was the first to leave the festival.
Southpaw took to Instagram to share their statement, which read, “This is simply not what we signed up for.” Period’
The band Let Me Bleed also left the show stating that it was the best decision they could make.
Seventeen-year-old Rittenhouse strapped on an AR-15-style rifle and headed to a racial injustice protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020, where he shot three people and killed two.
The protests denounced the police shooting of the black man, Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back and left paralyzed.
Rittenhouse argued that he opened fire in self-defense, claiming he was protecting local businesses from raucous protests and that he feared for his life.
He was found not guilty of all five charges and officially acquitted of his crimes almost three years ago.
Southpaw took to Instagram to share their statement, which read, “This is simply not what we signed up for.” Period. “Southpaw does not and will not engage in politics, therefore we will not align ourselves with her.”
‘Southpaw is about music. Perseverance as an individual and hardcore culture.’
Let Me Bleed also took to Instagram and said: Although we are advocates of free speech, collectively we are not a political band. We make music that we hope anyone can enjoy and relate to.”
“It wasn’t until we agreed to play the festival that these problematic and potentially alienating entities were used to market the show and that is something we simply cannot tolerate.”
But the festival continues to support the 21-year-old killer despite mass dropouts.
Shell Shock is being hosted by The Antihero Podcast, a Florida-based show, which broke its silence on the situation on Tuesday via an Instagram post.
‘We have been silent. But we are preparing,” the post said.
Seventeen-year-old Rittenhouse strapped on an AR-15-style rifle and headed to a racial injustice protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020, where he shot three people and killed two.
Rittenhouse argued that he opened fire in self-defense, claiming he was protecting local businesses from rowdy protests and feared for his life, and was found not guilty of all five charges and acquitted of his crimes nearly three years ago.
Shell Shock is being hosted by The Antihero Podcast, a show based in Florida and called it a “war of ideologies.”
Tyler Hoover, founder and CEO of Shell Shock, criticized the band for perpetuating cancel culture and their decision to leave the show.
‘The liberal mob tried to destroy Shell Shock. But we won’t allow it. Now this is more than a concert. “This is a war of ideologies.”
Social media users didn’t seem to agree with her response and wasted no time sharing their thoughts in the comments.
One user wrote: “Free speech guys punch the air when a band disagrees with them.”
‘Liberal mafia?! As delusional as MAGA as ever. YOUR headliners and festival bands found out who you are and what you stand for and walked away,” wrote another.
Tyler Hoover, founder and CEO of Shell Shock, criticized the band for perpetuating cancel culture and their decision to leave 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. pass.
‘Anyone who wants to come to Shell Shock is more than welcome. This is not a conservative event. “This is an American event.”
Hoover went even further when he took to Instagram on Tuesday night to call out people who were “talking shit” about the festival and Rittenhouse’s appearance, Rolling Stone added.
‘I’m here to tell you that you’re not punk, you’re not hardcore. You, the people who are trolling and the people who are talking shit, you are the part of society that suffers from mental illness. You are the ones who are manipulated,” the post said.
‘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 spirit. You can’t kill the punk. And you can’t kill Shell Shock.
Shell Shock II will still take place on October 19 with a different lineup of less notable artists, Rolling Stone reported.
The headliner is now replaced by a Slipknot tribute band called SiC.