Pete Wentz of the band Fall Out Boy is back in the news, but not for falling out of his pants this time. Some comments he made about tolerance at a concert in Charlotte have put him in a war of words with a bigot mom.
The mom sent a letter to Wentz which he posted on his website. It reads, in part, “The ticket said ‘all ages,’ and your band was very foul-mouthed and anti-morals. Charlotte is not the demoralized city that liberal San Francisco and other cities across the North and West are. I had looked forward to this concert with my girls for months [and] I didn’t spend over $200 on gas, food and, unfortunately, shirts for you to give your own personal political testimony. … This was a concert, not some liberal homosexual rally…I am not the only parent with morals that had children at this concert … your responsibility was to sing your songs. When you opened your mouth to talk, you blew it. Here’s to your band being just another Spice Girls, looking back and remembering the good times and 15 minutes of fame, because you [underestimated] who pays your bills. By the way, my children will not be a part of your sick idea of family.”
So what were the words that so irked this bigot mom?
Wentz replies: “The only thing I said in Charlotte was, ‘You can leave this show and say, ‘I think this guy is an arrogant jerk,’ or think, ‘This band is better than this one,’ because these are your opinions. The only thing we consider unacceptable is for you to engage in sexist, racist or homophobic behavior. If you do, we don’t want you as a fan. Return our merch and leave.”
Wentz continued:
“I have a mouth like a sailor, it frustrated my mother growing up. I try my best to be the best person I can be. I want to be a good role model for younger kids. I don’t smoke, drink or do drugs. I censor myself the best I can, but at the same time, I am not going to change in order to simply make myself more lucrative. I encourage fans of our band to grow up to become good people and to change the world. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that treating other people as inhuman is acceptable. If that is offensive to you, I apologize, but we don’t want you to be part of our fanbase. [Our show] is not a liberal homosexual rally, but at the same time, it will never be a Ku Klux Klan rally. We don’t need to sell tickets that badly.”
Bravo to Wentz and Fall Out Boy. It’s refreshing to see an attitude like his. I hope the mother’s kids listen up.
