A hail of cancellations: After criticism of Morrissey’s support for Israel, his shows in Turkey were canceled
Morrissey’s planned concerts in Turkey were canceled following strong backlash on social media over his support of Israel. The former The Smiths singer was due to perform in Istanbul and Ankara on December 15th and 16th, but both concerts are now listed as canceled on Ticketmaster.
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Morrissey waved the Israeli flag
The cancellations came after a 2012 video surfaced online showing Morrissey waving the Israeli flag at a concert in Tel Aviv. The clip quickly spread, and numerous social media users called for the performances to be canceled amid outrage over the war victims in Gaza.
One particularly popular post read: “May I introduce: Zionist singer Morrissey, a supporter of Israel, will be performing a concert at the Volkswagen Arena on December 16th. This concert should not be allowed to take place while children are dying in Palestine.”
Online criticism and parallels to other concert cancellations
Although Morrissey used to position himself on the left of the political spectrum, he has now moved far to the right. The singer expressed his support for right-wing extremist and anti-Islamic parties in Great Britain, including Reform UK and the now-defunct For Britain party. In previous interviews, he dismissed accusations of racism with the following statement: “At the end of the day, everyone prefers their own race, does that make everyone a racist?” So far, the musician has not commented on the concert cancellations and Ticketmaster has not yet made an official statement.
The media backlash and cancellation of the shows follows a similar controversy surrounding a planned Robbie Williams concert in Istanbul on October 7th. This was also canceled after online protests from pro-Palestinian groups. This was justified by security concerns regarding Williams’ political stance as an Israel supporter – among other things because he is married to a Jew.