PERRY FARRELL Speaks Out On At&T Censorship Of PEARL JAM - Sep. 10, 2007
The Pulse of Radio (formerly Launch Radio Networks) reports: Lollapalooza co-founder Perry Farrell told The Pulse of Radio that it was wrong for AT&T to censor PEARL JAM singer Eddie Vedder's anti-Bush lyrics during the company's web cast of the band's performance at last month's festival in Chicago. But Farrell also said that he wouldn't hold AT&T fully responsible and would be open to having the corporation involved in Lollapalooza again. "They did not have consent from Lollapalooza to censor," he said. "It was an overzealous censor. They should not have done that, but it was one man who made a decision at that moment. Now as far as next year, do we plan on not working with AT&T? I wouldn't exactly, as I say, look at AT&T as the devil. It was one person. Would I work with that person again? Not without speaking to them and saying you can't do those kinds of things."
The missing portions of PEARL JAM's show occurred during the band's performance of the song "Daughter". Vedder's alternate lyrics, "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush, find yourself another home," were not heard in the webcast, leading fans to alert the group.
PEARL JAM posted the unedited performance at its web site and issued a statement strongly condemning AT&T's actions.
AT&T blamed the omission on a "content monitor" who was overseeing the broadcast for obscene language and denied censoring artists for political reasons. But AT&T later admitted to MTV.com that the editing of political remarks also occurred during previous webcasts in the company's "Blue Room" series. A spokesperson said in a statement that the company had "taken steps to ensure that it won't happen again."
AT&T gave more than $200,000 to Bush in the 2004 election cycle, enough to make the list of his 20 biggest corporate donors.
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