One is the matriarch of the original reality TV dynasty. The other built the careers of international stars including Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.
And now Sharon Osbourne and Scooter Braun, together with over 100 other celebrities, have signed a letter decrying efforts to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.
The letter, organised by non-profit Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), says Eurovision’s “spirit of togetherness” is under attack.
“Those calling to boycott Eurovision 2019…[are] subverting the spirit of the contest and turning it from a tool of unity into a weapon of divisionâ.
International celebrities denounce cultural boycott of Eurovision 2019
Other signatories to the letter include British comedian Stephen Fry, Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic and KISS bassist Gene Simmons.
Director of CCFP Ari Ingel says:
âThe members of the entertainment industry who have signed this statement, along with the thousands of individuals who have endorsed its message, all believe in building bridges through music and the arts as a means to achieving greater understanding and peace in the region.â
The letter is a response to calls for a cultural boycott by artists and broadcasters, which began last summer when Israel won the 2018 contest in Lisbon.
So far no artist or delegation has pulled out of the contest.
UK Eurovision broadcaster the BBC affirmed its commitment to the contest in January:
âThe Eurovision song contest is not a political event and does not endorse any political message or campaign. The competition has always supported the values of friendship, inclusion, tolerance and diversity and we do not believe it would be appropriate to use the BBCâs participation for political reasons. Because of this we will be taking part in this yearâs event. The host country is determined by the rules of the competition, not the BBC.â
GET MORE ISRAEL EUROVISION NEWS HERE
Photo Credit: Wall Street Journal, Sharon Osbourne Twitter, Wall Street Journal
I thought this was behind us. We are 2 weeks away from the Eurovision Week so this shouldn’t be a tomic anymore.
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Why are all these people piping up about Eurovision? Donât get me wrong I like the exposure, but when has Scooter Braun engaged with Eurovision in the past?
Boycotting cultural events is simply stupid. Boycott is for products, not for countries
I donât agree with the boycott, but itâs an important part of the conversation. Having Eurovision in Israel is providing a platform for people to raise awareness and talk about these issues, and itâs good that wiwibloggs is acknowledging the reality and context here.
Although it’s a shame that, even though we have an article about the boycott, my impartial comment below exploring the question of boycott has been deleted twice (without even a note to explain why).
tl;dr; because the European far-left said Israel is the source of all evil in this world so everybody has to abide them, because you know, if the left says something, they are surely right.
why are you even here then???
Bet these people didn’t even know about Eurovision until they read about the boycott on Twitter!
Sharon Osbourne surely have heard of it, being British and all.
She might have heard of it but she sure didn’t care about it until reading her Twitter. Let people who actually care about ESC comment about boycotts or no boycotts..
well the boycott didn’t work anyway
Who spends money for pre parties, and to prepare the performance, and to go to Israel….just to tell them face to face that they boycott? Who thinks that at this point, the danger of boycott still exists, it means is just an attention seeker, like those from this letter. —off topic, Have you heard that Madonna will pay 5 mill dollars from her own pocket for one staging of Madame x at Billboard? And that silly guy will give her 2 mill to give her the favor of being on ESC stage. Madonna is desperate, and some people can’t see… Read more »
Easy to say itâs not the answer. Then, what is? Pretending like thereâs no issue isnât the answer either. No one has the answer, and people try to show they care the way they know how. Easy to blame one side or the other really. Both have their truths. I respect people calling for boycott cuz i know what they target and why they do it. I donât support it, but I respect it. Iâm not going to Israel for Eurovision this year cuz I donât feel like going just to party while thereâs a wall built a few km… Read more »
You’re making things awfully simplistic again.That wall exists with a clear purpose. There are enough people in this world who would like to see the state of israel burn and if you don’t control the borders it 100% means you are putting your citizens in danger. The middle east isn’t the european union. ( And even the european union has walls on the border)
You know why that wall was built? To stop suicide bombers that were coming from the west bank to explode in busy Israeli cities, in buses and restaurants. Just google a bit about the second intifada which took place not so long ago and you will understand the conflict much better.
I’d suggest you Google the seam zone and the green line as well. Also it might be interesting to ask why Israel has 500 000 of its citizens living at the West Bank if it’s so dangerous that a wall is required.
Why even comment about this pathetic boycott proposal? Who even took it seriously?
Because without any comment, the hateful rhetoric (under the guise of concern for human rights) of the boycott enthusiasts is uncontested. They may be few, but they’re very vocal, If people from the opposite side don’t speak up it could leave an impression that boycott is the only moral and reasonable thing to do, which it isn’t.
Good for them, they’re already doing a lot more making sure hatred will not prevail then some certain artists who shall not be named…
It’s too late to boycott it now anyways. The BBC has already submitted their entry and they would have to pay a (high) fine if they decided to withdraw now.
How to boycott anyway, at this advanced stage of the competition? Delegations are already on the plane, what can be done now when everything was paid for (accomodations, staging…)? This letter is useless, written by people that want attention to show how peaceful they are. And under what rock did they found Marina Abramovic to sign this?
Good. that Sharon always makes me laugh when I watch the UK X-factor, nice to know she’s also not air-headed.
it’s a shame people fight for a cause the only thing they know about is what twitter teaches them. then Europeans don’t get why ideas like globalism, multi-culturalism and politically correctness don’t work in practice. “but twitter said XXX is evil and YYY is good! why doesn’t it show in real life?”
Love Sharon since mentoring my Queen Saara Aalto on X Factor <3
….or since she humiliated Saara for singing in French.
Yes, I admit that đ But even Simon was not very friendly and the public didn’t even know what happened and made boo noises. In Germany, we would like French chansons, but in GB they deal with non-English songs like with aliens… đ