SXSW Faces Talent Dropouts in Boycott

South by Southwest (SXSW), the Austin, Texas festival taking place March 8 to 16, is being hit with boycotts from over 80 musical acts. The artists are protesting sponsorship of the festival by the U.S. Army, along with Contractors RTX, its subsidiary Collins Aerospace, and BAE Systems, all sponsors who have supported Israel in the war with Hamas.

In addition to the musicians, some festival panelists have also dropped out, including Chris Smalls, organizer of the first successful Amazon factory union in Staten Island. Smalls is the star and subject of a new documentary, The Union, directed by Stephen Maing and Brett Story.

The protest was sparked by the Austin For Palestine Coalition, whose stance is that U.S. military and the defense contractors have supplied Israel with weapons and technology, so boycotting the festival would show solidarity with the Palestinians. Prior to the start of the festival, SXSW sent a cease-and-desist letter to the coalition alleging that it had used the festival’s trademarked art in its social media posts without permission.

The festival backtracked after Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted on social media: “Bands pull out of SXSW over U.S. Army sponsorship. Bye. Don’t come back.”

The Festival reacted. “SXSW does not agree with Governor Abbott. We are an organization that welcomes diverse viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has long been our legacy. We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech.”