British rock band Muse was facing pressure on Tuesday from fans and artists to cancel an upcoming İstanbul gig after the Turkish concert promoter lashed out at people involved in recent anti-government protests.
In a posting on X on Monday, the band announced plans to play in İstanbul on June 11, with tickets going on sale on April 3.
But there was an immediate backlash, with fans and artists saying they would boycott the gig over remarks by the boss of DBL Entertainment, the Turkish promoter behind the event.
Since March 19, Turkey has been gripped by its biggest anti-government protests since 2013 following the arrest of İstanbul’s opposition mayor, the biggest political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The mass protests have been met with a sharp crackdown, prompting opposition leader Özgür Özel to call for a boycott of companies allegedly close to Erdoğan’s government.
One targeted the EspressoLab coffee chain, which was mobbed by protesters on Saturday, prompting a furious response on X from DBL Entertainment’s owner Abdülkadir Özkan, who denounced the boycott call as “treason.”
The post prompted an immediate backlash, forcing Özkan to briefly shut down his account.
Since March 19, police have arrested nearly 2,000 people, among them many students, prompting young people to begin their own boycott of companies seen as close to Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Özkan’s post was quickly followed by a barrage of calls on social media to boycott gigs organized by his company, among them a Robbie Williams concert on October 7.
An upcoming DBL show by comedian Trevor Noah in İstanbul on April 23 has also been cancelled, although there was no official reason given for the move.
‘Solidarity matters’
“We would love to go [to see Muse], but the Turkish organizer of this concert supports fascism,” Turkish theatre actress Berna Laçin wrote on X.
“The young people who were going to come to your concert were thrown in jail. Cancel it and come with another promoter,” she said, addressing the band.
Singer Gaye Su Akyol, popular in Turkey and abroad, also took to X in support of the boycott in a post addressed to Muse, Robbie Williams and a Norwegian singer called Ane Brun.
“I’ve respected your works for years and know how much you mean to many. But neither I, nor anyone, will attend your Istanbul concerts because the organizer is on the boycott list of the pro-democracy movement,” she wrote. “Solidarity matters.”
Brun later said she was cancelling her October gig, saying, “I have decided not to play in Istanbul this October … unfortunately, this is not the right time.”
I have decided not to play in Istanbul this October.
I was so looking forward to playing for you, but unfortunately, this is not the right time.
I dream of playing for you as soon as possible.
I stand by you. In Peace and Lovepic.twitter.com/4Zi3NQkFCv
— Ane Brun (@anebrun) April 1, 2025
Another Turkish singer known as Kalben also said she wouldn’t go to the Muse gig “because the organizer is on the boycott list of the pro-democracy movement.”
She urged the band to “make a move in the direction of support and solidarity.”
© Agence France-Presse