The NHL’s Seattle Kraken fired a popular local music indie group after one game of a scheduled three-game performance – and a heated public dispute is raging over whether it was prompted by lyrics ridiculing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, according to the Seattle Times.
The group known as “Who is She?” sang: ““Oh, no Jeffrey Bezos/ He’s such a total jerk/ Shut down all the bookstores/ Billionaires do not work.
”The Kraken play their homes games at “Climate Pledge Arena,” for which Amazon holds naming rights, and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is a minority Kraken owner, the Times reported. But the team put out a statement claiming the decision had nothing to do with the lyrics:
“This decision was not related to the band’s choice of song. We require that our artists are professional, punctual and avoid consuming alcohol during their performance.” It also denied that it censors artists performing at its games.
But group members told the Times they were given no reason by team officials for the firing other than “we ‘weren’t a good fit for hockey.” They said they asked if the decision was related to the lyrics and were told, “That didn’t help.
”There was also this from the musicians:
“We were not drunk and saying that we were would be a lie. “We imagine that’s why the Kraken’s carefully worded PR statement only implies that we were rather than actually accusing us. We will admit, however, that after we were fired, we did drink the 5 Coors Lights we had previously avoided in the ‘green room’ fridge.
”For historical context, the Times reported this:
The Bezos lyrics used that night were part of a modified version of the 1999 song “My My Metro card” by Le Tigre, which had poked fun at then-New York MayorRudy Giuliani. The modified song played Wednesday was changed to a localized “My My Orca Card” with the Bezos lyrics added.”
