Lupe Fiasco Thrown Off Stage At Inauguration Concert After Bashing Obama

At the StartUp RockOn event in Washington, the rapper’s performance upsets the hosts.

Josh Rogin @joshrogin Follow

Lupe Fiasco just got thrown off stage here at the Hamilton Live after he went on an anti-Obama diatribe mid set.

4:45 AM - 21 Jan 13

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Josh Rogin @joshrogin Follow

So Lupe played one anti-war song for 30 min and said he didn't vote for Obama and eventually was told to move on to the next song.

5:08 AM - 21 Jan 13

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Josh Rogin @joshrogin Follow

Lupe refused to move to the next song so a team of security guards came on stage and told him to go.

5:09 AM - 21 Jan 13

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Matt Dornic @mdornic Follow

Things going terribly wrong at @lupefiasco performance during #SURO. Kicked off stage, bashing obama.

4:38 AM - 21 Jan 13

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Matt Dornic @mdornic Follow

#SURO slammed by @lupefiasco's nonstop, anti-obama rap. Corporate sponsors scurrying.

4:47 AM - 21 Jan 13

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A statement from one of the concert’s sponsors:

hypervocal @hypervocal Follow

Disappointed that an artist took opportunity to use an event celebrating innovation/startups to make a political statement. #StartUpRockOn

5:19 AM - 21 Jan 13

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UPDATE: Here’s the full statement:

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.