Nick Piccone
The Sixers raised some eyebrows last night after singer Sevyn Streeter, who was supposed to sing the national anthem at the Sixers’ home opener last night, tweeted a video saying the team forbade her from performing the national anthem with her “We Matter” shirt. The Sixers released a statement saying they encourage meaningful actions to drive social change and instead of symbolic gestures, they prefer action.
Today, there’s been a report floating out there that the Sixers had Streeter sign a contract that prohibited her from making political statements during her routine. The Sixers reportedly offered a different shirt, but the singer refused.
SOURCE: Artist @sevyn signed a contract that prohibited political statements. Sixers offered alternate shirt and song, but she refused.
— Jan Carabeo (@JanCarabeoCBS3) October 27, 2016
Now, I disagree with Tyler, who said the Sixers made a poor decision. Teams can do whatever they want and hold the rights to cancel any appearance they deem necessary. Streeter apparently was going to breach the contract, so the Sixers had a decision to make. This no doubt put them in a tough position. However, I do think it’s a little strange that after these protests have been going on since August that the Sixers found it necessary to not have it happen at the Wells Fargo Center. Is it because there are reports surfacing that NFL ratings are down because of the protests and the Sixers didn’t want that to overshadow Joel Embiid’s debut? Maybe. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong here, but it certainly opened eyes.
And then there’s the whole discussion if the shirt symbolized a “political statement” when the entire premise of the protests is to activate social change. Is that political?