HOLLYWOOD, CA - OCTOBER 17: Rapper Big Sean performs at the Hollywood Palladium on October 17, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY
You might wonder why rapper Lupe Fiasco would be invited to an inauguration party, given that he has publicly criticized President Obama in the past.
But this party was all about free speech.
So
when Fiasco took the stage Sunday in Washington at the Hamilton Live
theater as part of the StartUp RockOn inauguration bash, he bashed Obama
again.
"Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist," he rapped. "Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn't say (bleep). That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either."
Politico reports
that tweets indicated Fiasco played one anti-war song for 30 minutes
and was told to move on to the next song. When he refused, security
escorted him off the stage.
In a statement posted on HyperVocal.com Monday, organizers of the party say Fiasco was not kicked off stage for what he said.
"Lupe
Fiasco performed at this private event, and as you may have read, he
left the stage earlier than we had planned. But Lupe Fiasco was not
'kicked off stage' for an 'anti-Obama rant.' We are staunch supporters
of free speech, and free political speech. This was not about his
opinions. Instead, after a bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance
that left the crowd vocally dissatisfied, organizers decided to move on
to the next act."
USA TODAY