Kirin J Callinan Finally Responds To His Laneway Cancellation

Just shy of two weeks after St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival quietly removed him from their 2018 line-up, Kirin J Callinan has spoken out in defence of Laneway act Miss Blanks.

In an Instagram post last night, Callinan told his followers that Miss Blanks, who spoke out publicly about why she didn’t want to share a line-up with the Sydney musician, shouldn’t “take the blame” for Laneway’s decision “regardless o the role she may have played.”

“She is the exact sort of artist we should all support ~ bold, original, flamboyant, progressive & with somethin to say,” he wrote. “Furthermore, it mortifies me to think that she could now be made to feel unwelcome in any way, shape or fabulous form ~ onstage, backstage or on her ig page, at any stage.

“So I’m saying so, demanding it now, there will be no harassment… there will be tolerance & there will be respect. I’m serious. Deadly.”

My friends, There’s been some talk. Debate & discourse. Much of it positive, some of it misinformed, a small n sanctimonious element too. Regardless o the noise, however, it does not sit well with me one puny pitiful bit that a fellow artist & clearly strong, trans woman of colour could now be shamed or take the blame, be defamed or suffer the same re my recent omission from a certain summertime festivus, regardless o the role she may have played #laneway #lanewayfestival @lanewayfestival @miss.blanks #missblanks She is the exact sort of artist we should all support ~ bold, original, flamboyant, progressive & with somethin to say. Furthermore, it mortifies me to think that she could now be made to feel unwelcome in any way, shape or fabulous form ~ onstage, backstage or on her ig page, at any stage. So I’m saying so, demanding it now, there will be no harassment, there will be no D’s out 4 Miss B in 20 A~teen. There will be tolerance & there will be respect #respect #tolerance #therewillbe I’m serious. Deadly. To say I’m a wee bit disappointed that I will not also be performing for every dusty, sexy, sunburnt woman & man & non-binary human ‘round this beaut n dusty sunburnt land is the understatement o the new year. But more important than some rocking concert, more relevant than resentment or regrets, is respect ~ for each & every one o us. So, be kinder to each other in 2018, be kinder to yourselves and perhaps, one day not too far from now, the world will be big enough, for all of us #allofus #bigenough #thisguysinlovewithyou ? by Annett @annett.bonkowski

A post shared by Kirin J Callinan (@kirinjcallinan) on Jan 30, 2018 at 12:40am PST

Miss Blanks applauded Laneway for removing Callinan from the line-up earlier this month, and confirmed that she was among a group of Laneway artists who asked organisers to cut Kirin after he exposed his genitals at the 2017 ARIA Awards.

“I applaud the organisers of Laneway’s decision to remove Kirin J Callinan from the festival lineup,” she wrote on Instagram. “His long and recent history of reckless and insensitive actions reinforces an entitlement which permits Kirin and others like him to dismiss valid issues, and normalises racism, ableism and sexual assault. Amidst the ‘me too’ discussions, it’s important to see preventative actions as well as support systems.”

While he’s revealed that he’s “disappointed” to be off the Laneway line-up, Callinan still hasn’t made a public apology for his behaviour at the ARIA Awards or owned up to acting like a fuckwit. Also silent is Laneway themselves, who declined to make any public statement about why they removed Kirin from the line-up — leaving Miss Blanks to cop the heat alone.

The Laneway tour kicks off in Adelaide this Friday.