Indie label Mexican Summer officially announcing its decision to drop Ariel Pink.
Ariel Pink has officially been dropped by his label, Mexican Summer, for attending a pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C. on January 6th.
Ariel Pink didn’t storm the U.S. Capitol alongside other protesters, though the indie rocker has lost his label deal for attending the pro-Trump rally that preceded the violence. The indie musician, whose real name is Ariel Rosenberg, has been sharply criticized for attending the rally, which protested the recent 2020 presidential election results.
Rosenberg’s participation in the protest appears to have been entirely peaceful, though the resulting violence at the Capitol prompted his label Mexican Summer to drop the artist. “Due to recent events, Mexican Summer and its staff have decided to end our working relationship with Ariel Rosenberg AKA Ariel Pink moving forward,” the label offered in a brief Twitter statement.
Pink’s participation in the event isn’t exactly surprising given his ardent support for Donald Trump. After battling criticism for attending the rally, the artist simply responded that he wanted to “peacefully show his support for President Trump,” while clarifying that he was asleep in his hotel during the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
“I attended the rally on the White House lawn and went back to the hotel and took a nap. Case closed,” Pink flatly stated.
For Mexican Summer, Ariel Pink’s politics — and participation in the protest — are hardly a surprise. Rosenberg has been strongly pro-Trump for years, and has made strong statements against climate change, COVID-19 vaccinations, and Democrats in general. The storming of the U.S. Capitol, however, with or without Ariel Pink’s participation, seemed to be the last straw.
The send-off is unlikely to stunt Pink’s career, however. The artist currently enjoys more than 100 million streams on Spotify and considerable fan support. Those fans and listeners apparently weren’t turned off by Pink’s politics before this point, so it’s likely the indie musician will retain his following going forward. Rosenberg might be able to shift to another label, or simply release his music by himself (and retain a far higher royalty cut).
Expectedly, reactions to the termination were mixed among fans. Many applauded the move by the label, though a large number of Twitter responses questioned whether Mexican Summer was merely dropping the artist for his political views. Taking that a step further, some fans questioned whether the label had legal grounds to end the partnership.
“I was always wondering what does dropping an artist from a label on grounds like this look from a legal standpoint,” one fan wrote. “I mean, what does a label write in a notice on contract termination?”