Burger acts relaxed, but rants against a fan who accuses him of selling out.
Satisfied grin, open shirt on bare chest – legs crossed: This is how Philipp Burger currently presents himself on Facebook. The Frei.Wild singer seems to have a lot of reasons to be happy and a reason to sit back. After he was disinvited from the Leipzig Book Fair (March 21-24, 2024), things now seem to be moving in his direction again.
“Yeah guys, there was a lot of action in there! Critical voices behind the scenes at Lit Pop caused great unrest. There was so much pressure that the organizer pulled the ripcord yesterday and I was unloaded,” the 42-year-old wrote on the social network shortly before midnight yesterday, Wednesday (January 31st).
What happened?
As Burger previously wrote on Instagram, he was removed from the program of the “LitPop” event. Because, as he says, another artist would otherwise have threatened to cancel. Burger reports that he is distancing himself from his right-wing radical past. In any case, Frei.Wild still enjoys an extremely high reputation in right-wing circles. Fans enthusiastically sing song lines like “Home means people, tradition and language” or “You can’t avoid /Looking at your country / Because your children will build on it later /Language, customs /And faith are values of the homeland / Leave without them We are under /Our little people are dying” at the top of their lungs. There are photos of him as a young man in which he gives the “Hitler salute”.
The South Tyrolean was angry because of the disinvitation. “Unfortunately, due to pressure from several artists/authors, the fact that I will appear at the reading as part of this big event, as previously planned, seems to be finally off the table,” he wrote on his personal Instagram page. There’s also a lot going on on the Frei.Wild band page, where – possibly confidential – screenshots of emails are being shared in which the book fair cancellation was communicated by the organizers. There is also a lot of talk about “cancel culture”, which is also ensured by the band’s followers, who let out their anger with lots of emojis.
Apparently Philipp Burger will now read from his autobiography in Leipzig. He writes: “The person who came up with Lit Pop and created it was looking for a conversation. It was he who put the idea of inviting me on the table back then. All of this really made me happy. So great, I thought to myself, let’s talk, as always. I also understand that it was probably clear to everyone that I, this Philipp Burger, was polarizing. But then it got so loud from some people who seemed to be really stressed out about me, even though we don’t even know each other, that the discussion about my participation shouldn’t overshadow the entire event, as he explained to me in conversation today. That’s right, it really could have been done better. We talked about that too. We could have talked to each other beforehand, that’s true, I understand that too. Apology accepted. We’re not really used to being constantly discussed controversially, especially when my name is mentioned. I was really hoping that the biography would have awakened a little more willingness to engage in dialogue… at least we had a really open conversation earlier.”
That’s probably why the “cool” photo on his Facebook profile page – according to the motto: They’ll come to me and withdraw their rejection. Or, as they say, “apology accepted.” That seemed to be very important to the South Tyrolean. Finally, he writes that his reading in Leipzig is now complete.
Burger reacts a bit thin-skinned to the comment of a user who comments on his reading appearance with the words: “If the money is right”. The singer replied: “Which one? Pay every fucking cent yourself. Like the first reading tour.” Interesting information. Maybe Burger should ask his publisher (or the trade fair) why an author has to pay for his appearance there.
Frei.Wild fans angry
In any case, Frei.Wild protect their boss and see freedom of expression threatened. Meanwhile, their fans are puzzling over which artist threatened to be canceled. Comment from a user, as you often hear from fans of the band: “It will be some left-wing band or singer… you just stand there shaking your head in the best Germany of all time, provided you say yes to everything, if not you are right-wing. “