Rapper apologizes after wearing Swastika shirt at Canadian music festival

Aug 3 2022, 6:52 pm

Over the weekend, as Montreal’s Osheaga festival wrapped, controversy surrounding rapper Slowthai’s fashion choice began to brew. During his Saturday performance, the artist infamously appeared on stage wearing a shirt bearing a large red swastika.

The piece of clothing, which features the word “Destroy” above the hateful symbol, is a replica of a 1975 garment created by English fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.

According to Slowthai, the shirt was meant to convey an anti-fascist message. Nonetheless, many anti-Semitism groups, including the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), were upset and appalled after seeing the symbol on the festival’s stage.

Following Monday’s uproar, Osheaga issued an apology on Instagram.

 

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An apology and personal statement was later tweeted out by Slowthai himself. In it, the rapper explained how he stands “against fascism of any kind,” which is something the shirt was “meant to illustrate with the word ‘destroy’ above the symbol.”

The ability to reply to the tweet was turned off by the author.

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