Buju Banton Promoter Loses $100,000

Outrage over lyrics by reggae performer Buju Banton and a concentrated campaign by Equality Florida have cost the promoter of a Miami concert featuring Banton and Beenie Man $100,000, according to Equality Florida.

By Advocate.com Editors

BUJU BANTON 02 X390 (GETTY) | ADVOCATE.COM

Outrage over lyrics by reggae performer Buju Banton and a concentrated campaign by Equality Florida have cost the promoter of a Miami concert featuring Banton and Beenie Man $100,000, according to Equality Florida.

Both Banton and Beenie Man have been condemned for performing songs that advocate the torture and murder of gay men and lesbians. Equality Florida reports that groups convinced venues in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, and Tallahassee to cancel performances. Managers of the Miami Knight Center, however, cited First Amendment concerns for their decision to go ahead as scheduled with the Banton and Beenie Man show. Ticket sales were much lower than expected, though, and the show’s promoter told Equality Florida that he had personally lost $100,000 as a result of the controversy.

Read the full story at the Equality Florida Blog.

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Reader Comments

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Name: Michael
Date posted: 2/27/2010 12:12:44 PM
Hometown: Montreal

Comment:
This Black Ho needs to be put in Jail. He can't come to Canada because we have hate laws that have teeth and he would be refused at the border. Although we could send him to our Far North but then we would have to feed him. Mort a lui as we say in french.
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Name: Thomas Edmondson
Date posted: 1/5/2010 6:49:32 PM
Hometown: St. Paul, MN

Comment:
Go out to CHANGE dot ORG and sign the petition against Buju Banton to tell the record industry you do NOT want him on the upcoming Grammys. He must be stopped and a message that his 'hate' for LGBT must stop now. Everyone please go out to CHANGE dot ORG and do a search for this petition. THANK YOU ALL.
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Name: SamK
Date posted: 11/6/2009 12:27:50 AM
Hometown: Honolulu

Comment:
The promoter of the "Reggae Bash 2009" event in Miami is Andrew Minott and his Global Vybz Entertainment. Here is a quote from Andrew Minott: "Leave all judgment up to God. Read the Bible. I'm a Christian. If a man lay with a man, you can fill in the blank." This quote is from http://tinyurl.com/ygs8q4y
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Name: judge dread
Date posted: 11/3/2009 4:54:28 PM
Hometown: zion gate

Comment:
hmm, $100k is a lot to lose on a concert. not sure how those figures were arrived at--$10k seems more likely. neither this story nor the Equality Florida blog reveal how this number was figured, nor do they name the promoter or provide any quotes. so there's no way to determine if this figure is accurate or if anyone even talked to a promoter before printing this.
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Name: Jay
Date posted: 11/3/2009 4:37:56 PM
Hometown: Santa Monica

Comment:
Delighted to hear that the promoter lost $100,000 in the effort to present a thuggish murderer. However, I hope that none of that money went to the hate-musician himself. The bastard should be deported to his backward island.
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Name: LostBoy68
Date posted: 11/3/2009 3:39:12 PM
Hometown: Orlando, FL

Comment:
Boo-hoo ...

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