Kanye West is getting a taste of his own treatment.
A disgruntled music fan in the United Kingdom, Neil Lonsdale, started an online petition to keep the superstar rapper and producer from headlining the UK's marquee Glastonbury Festival in June. West is slated to headline the festival Saturday night, according to the festival website.
Lonsdale begins the petition by calling West "an insult to music fans all over the world" and closes it by asking fans to sign the petition and end the "musical injustice." He asks that a rock band be featured in place of the rapper.
Speaking to NME, Lonsdale said West does not deserve a spotlight equal to the one the Rolling Stones received in 2013 when they were Glastonbury's Saturday night headline act. Lonsdale adds he has nothing against hip-hop and his "beef" is with West's attitude and the quality of his music. Lonsdale cites the incident in which West disrespected Beck at this year's Grammys. West later apologized for his actions. (Lonsdale will be attending the festival for the first time.)
While Lonsdale started the Change.org petition as a joke, more than 119,000 people have signed as of 3:30 a.m. London time Sunday morning.
There is no word yet from West about the petition.
Promoters of the five-day festival responded to the petition by writing an editorial in The Guardian:
"I’ve seen people this week saying that Kanye shouldn’t appear because, in their opinion, he’s not a positive role model or because they think he’s too self-assured. We book our acts by choosing the best and most challenging musicians on the planet – not by applying some kind of arbitrary morality test," Emily Eavis wrote. "It’s important to point out that the signatories of the petition are not limited to ticket holders. From what we can see, an awful lot of them aren’t even from the UK. Even the originator of the petition admits that he has never actually been to the festival."
As of now, three acts are confirmed for Glastonbury, which takes place June 24-28: Foo Fighters who will headline Friday, West on Saturday and Lionel Richie.
"Our message to the man who started the petition is that like any other ticket-holder, he is very welcome to get a refund. But better still, come to the festival and open your mind to some wonderful music and performances from all corners of the world," Eavis wrote.
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