Last week, Amazon launched a new music festival called Intersect, with the likes of Beck, Thundercat and SOPHIE featuring on the line-up.
Another of the acts on the line-up, The Black Madonna, expressed her dismay via Twitter soon after the festival’s announcement, stating in a series of posts that she had not been made aware of Amazon’s involvement in the event. She has now cancelled her appearance at the festival as a result.
"I will not be performing at Intersect Festival due to their relationship with Amazon Web Services who have business ties with ICE and Homeland Security," The Black Madonna’s statement announcing her decision says. "I was not approached by employees of Amazon. I was never formally or informally advised of any Amazon branding. The offer I accepted did not propose any kind of brand partnership.
"I am profoundly disappointed that anyone, at any level, in the long chain of people between the offer I saw and the eventual promotion of this event presumed I would. Many of you expressed your disappointment too and you were right to do so. I share it completely and amplify it. I am in total solidarity with the demonstrators, workers, other tech laborers and immigrants and all people of conscience in calling for an end to corporate digital collaboration with US Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department Of Homeland Security."
None of the other artists on the line-up have yet commented on their inclusion on the line-up nor Amazon’s involvement in the festival.
Amazon Web Services gave a statement to Pitchfork following The Black Madonna’s initial Twitter claims about its involvement in Intersect not being made clear. "Our affiliation of the Intersect Festival is clear in the contract that was signed by Black Madonna’s management team," that statement says.
Resident Advisor, however, obtained a document from the festival which says Intersect is a "collaboration between FORM and Production Club". It no mention of Amazon or AWS.
