American hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas was invited to perform at the New Year's concert in Poland (in Zakopane). The concert was broadcast by the main Polish television channel, TVP, and the musicians were paid $ 1 million for the performance. The artists appeared on stage with rainbow armbands in support of the LGBT community, which provoked a scandal among conservative Polish politicians.
TVP is funded by the ruling PIS party, which is known for its negative attitude towards the LGBT community and lobbying for homophobic laws. Sources at TVP told The Insider that the organizers of the concert, not knowing anything about the Black Eyed Peas, only invited them because they had a word similar to the party name (PIS) in their name to please their sponsors.
According to the Polish media, the TVP channel often broadcasts “homophobic content”, and because of this, the British singer Melanie C refused to cooperate with them, so the channel urgently had to look for a replacement. As a result, musicians from The Black Eyed Peas agreed to perform, who during the concert expressed support for the LGBT community and everyone who faced hatred this year:
“We dedicate this song to all those who have experienced hatred this year. Jewish communities – we love you, people of African descent around the world – we love you, LGBTQ communities – we love you, ”the lead singer of will.i.am said from the stage.
The performance of the musicians angered Polish conservative politicians. “Homo propaganda on TVP for $1 million. A shame!" – writes, for example, the deputy of the Seimas Janusz Kowalski.
“LGBT promotion on TVP2. SHAME!” Marcin Warhol, a member of the Polish parliament from Subcarpathia, is indignant.
In his words "fun cannot be used for debauchery":
“And all this on the day of the death of the Pope , who defined homosexual marriage as contrary to all cultures that have existed until today, and as a negation of the entire tradition of mankind. There are no words."
After the performance, the organizers of the concert said that everything went as planned. The host of the concert, Tomasz Kammel, stated that "everything was coordinated at the highest level, including every element of clothing."