A concert by the American singer Oliver Tree, which was due to take place in Vilnius on Sunday, has been cancelled, its organisers announced on Friday.
The American performer, who earned fame online with his comic image, striking videos and musical experiments, is due to perform at a festival in Kazakhstan in September, sponsored by the Russian company Yandex.
The British rock band Editors has cancelled their appearance at the festival in Kazakhstan, which is also to feature well-known bands Placebo and Die Antwoord.
The British band explained online that they made the decision after discovering who the main sponsor of the festival was.
Oliver Tree visited Russia several times in the past, and before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine said he would like to spend some time in the country.
In an interview with LRT.lt, he said that he opposed war but valued people all over the world equally, without dividing them by country. He also said he would like to spend time in North Korea one day.
On Friday afternoon, the organisers of Oliver Tree’s concert in Vilnius, 8 Days A Week, announced that they were cancelling his performance.
“We have taken this decision in view of Oliver Tree’s upcoming appearance at a festival in Kazakhstan which is directly funded by Yandex.
“After much negotiation and attempts to explain to the artist’s team about Yandex’s responsibility and funding of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Oliver Tree’s team decided not to cancel the performance in Kazakhstan. This decision is strongly at odds with our values and Lithuania’s position.
“We have only recently found out about the performance in Kazakhstan and did not have this information when we announced the performance in Vilnius,” the organisers announced on social media.
They also assured that ticket holders will be reimbursed. The organisers added that they saw their own financial losses as a donation to Ukraine.
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