Are entertainers next on the chopping block?

Remember the good old days when all you needed was a great voice and maybe a few good dance moves to become a top-notch entertainer? Well, these days, ambition and talent are no longer enough.  

To please the Woke mob, you now have to weigh in on the right political side or everything, over which you labored and sacrificed, could be gone in a moment.

First, it was Ed Sheeran’s tepid response to the Macklemore warm-up performance, where his “Free Palestine” rant got him booted off the ticket for the duo’s future gigs.  

Preferring to stay in his lane of music, Sheeran’s statement, an equal opportunity offender, sympathizing with Israel’s tragedy while castigating them for a disproportionate response, ended up placing him in everyone’s doghouse.  

The lesson to be gleaned from that ill-composed communication is to never portray Israel as a suffering victim or your career could be over!

If you don’t believe it, take the case of pop singer “Pink.” The Jewish entertainer merely voiced her fears over what took place when Macklemore hijacked the Sheeran concert, injecting politics into what should have been a light and joyful event, devoid of the many divisions that have invaded our daily lives.

But once she expressed the discomfort she personally felt, caused by his words, that response was met with a petition, signed by nearly 200,000 individuals who sought to punish the singer by having her removed as UNICEF ambassador.

So much for going against the tide!  It wasn’t enough that she also attempted to acknowledge innocent children, on both sides, as those bearing the brunt of what’s taken place over the last three years.  

Because in the minds of the anti-Israel crowd, the well-being of Jewish children should not be considered at all. Only Gazan children have claim to that concern.

But in this lopsided world, where justice is now reserved for a certain side, even true victims are stripped of all compassion, no matter how deserved it may be. And who could say that the barbaric murders of 1200 are unworthy of our tears?

That privilege, referred to as the freedom to express what hurts, is troubling or seen as immoral, now comes with a high price, and no one pays more than someone with a platform.

What began with Hollywood actors, who took up the cudgels of the Woke, has now spread to anyone who publicly performs. Expected to replace the once small talk that took place between songs, when the artist shared personal exchanges with their audience, today’s performers are waking up to the new revelation that they, too, are required to kiss the ring of progressivism, which always headlines the anti-Israel cause.

Whoever fails to do so, by copping to the excuse that they prefer to remain outside of the realm of politics, as Sheeran attempted to do, will only be pressured, all the more, to take a position!

It is the coercion of the mob who will not be satisfied until they deem that you are virtuous and worthy enough to preserve your fame. Heaven help those who refuse to play the game, because by not bestowing them with the highest authority of who gets to continue their livelihood, a line has been crossed with no return. 

When you think about it, the Woke have set themselves up as the Great Judge whose ultimate power grants life or death. Life to those who champion the right side, and death to those who dare to think independently. It’s come to that!  

The millions that entertainers once earned are now in the hand of the masked haters, whose checkered keffiyehs are their identifying uniform, distinguishing them from all others who lack the required virtue it takes to be seen as the morality police of our time.

By pronouncing their blessing, the entertainer can continue, unhindered, able to freely appear, on the condition of making the compulsory speech somewhere during their performance. Even if it’s just limited to those two vital words of “Free Palestine,” that will serve as the mandatory fee, required to maintain one’s earning capacity.

Conversely, the opposite is also true. By pronouncing the curse, there is no guarantee that an artist, who refuses to pay the piper, will live to see another concert, because a campaign will be immediately initiated, making sure that every last fan witnesses the punishment that comes with being unwilling to condemn Israel for having the unmitigated gall of defending her people. 

But it’s not a concerted campaign solely against performers, because at some point, their fans will also be fair game. Who will choose to run the risk of attending the concert of a free-thinker, who came solely to entertain, without injecting a political stance into the mix?

After all, if the entertainer is deemed to be bigoted against Palestine, then what does that make their fans? Has it come to the point where we will shortly witness the mustering of courage to attend the concert of a star who either rejects the need to insert politics into their show or, in the “worst-case” scenario, per the haters, is brave enough to express a pro-Israel message outside the confines of their event?

The public lynching of such an individual will be the next step, hoping to ruin not only them but their supporters as well. While this may seem more like a dystopian fiction, given the escalation of anti-Israel sentiment which has soared to unbelievable heights, over the past three years, who thinks that future events will not degenerate to this type of sick level?

It all comes down to turning over one’s free will to a group of self-righteous individuals who have a God complex and the twisted need to determine the virtue of every living creature, judging their thoughts and motives.

The moment that those personal human rights are relinquished, there is no way back. Their newfound dominance and endowed authority will be tightly held and guarded with no possibility of ever exercising free will or preference again.

It makes us realize that there is no greater blessing that we were given by the Almighty than the ability to choose as we wish – something with which even He did not interfere, otherwise we would have been created as robotic beings. Guarding that right is paramount – now more than ever!