Ariel Pink says supporting Trump got him canceled and left 'on the street': 'I can't even afford my lawyer'
Days after indie-rock musician Ariel Pink was dropped by his label Mexican Summer, following his appearance at a Trump rally in Washington DC that was the prelude to the violent Capitol riots, the musician appeared on Fox News, speaking to host Tucker Carlson about the "cancel culture" that affected him following his support for President Donald Trump. Photos of Pink in Washington DC on the day of the riots had emerged in the aftermath, however, the musician later confirmed that he had returned to his hotel room after the rally in the morning. Pink appeared on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' on Thursday, January 14 night, telling the host that he is "destitute" after his label dropped him.
When Carlson said that Pink is "a recording artist who can't record," the musician responded, "I can't tour either at this point. So it pretty much leaves me destitute and on the street. I’m sort of overwhelmed right now and I don’t know exactly what to do.”
Carlson pointed out that Pink was taking a "huge risk" appearing on the show, to which Pink said that he had no other recourse. He continued, "What am I gonna do? Am I gonna be able to get my statement out in magazines? Right now the narrative is being pushed, and there’s not very many people that are gonna let a counter-narrative enter into the fold. I mean there’s no nuance… I don’t know, man. I don’t know what I’m gonna do." Pink also said, "I can't even afford my lawyer right now."
There is no indication that Mexican Summer dropped Pink over his support for Trump, citing "recent events" as a reason for dropping Pink from January 9. On the same day of the Capitol riots, Pink had lost an attempt to secure a restraining order against his ex-girlfriend and former bandmate Charlotte Ercoli Coe in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
According to Pitchfork, the court stated in its ruling that Coe had “made a threshold showing” that her behaviors, which Pink had deemed harassment, were “Constitutionally-protected activities.” In a statement to the publication, Pink's lawyer, Thomas Mortimer had said, “The pending matter is now on appeal and the subject of a separate lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court. It is [Pink’s] position that the speech and communications at the heart of the case are not protected and [are] defamatory.”
Coe had alleged that Pink had “bullied [her] into [having] unprotected sex with him” and “infected [her] with herpes” by doing so. He also “illegally distributed naked pictures” of her to fans, according to Coe. After they broke up in 2018, Coe alleged Pink’s “abuse continued” in the form of harassment and texting. Coe also noted in her declaration that when she and Pink started dating in 2015, she was 19 and he was 38, creating “a tumultuous relationship, characterized by a power imbalance.”
Neither Carlson nor Pink brought up his legal battles during the seven-minute interview, during which Pink said that his label dropped him two days after the riot saying, "My label had written to inform me that they were getting a lot of heat and a lot of backlash for supporting me, and they reassured me that they were not gonna drop me."
He said, "I felt like I hadn’t done anything. But these articles obviously placed me at the siege, which I was not at. And of course I don’t advocate for violence at all. I was there for a peaceful rally. That’s all it was to me. but there was no fact checking or anything like that [as] 130 articles went out in the course of 24 hours. And the backlash was just… they succumbed to cancel culture. Twenty-four hours later they wrote back; they texted me telling me that they were going to go public and drop me at that point.”
Pink also said that the cancel culture was what he voted against, saying, "I didn’t vote so much for Trump as against cancel culture and this environment that’s been blazing for about four years and is about to ramp up and get even worse.”
He continued when Carlson asked what Pink thought the "purpose" of his being canceled was, saying, "I think it’s desperation and feat that’s driving this whole thing. I think there’s been a very big effort to unseat the president, or at least not let him have four more years — which I think is fair. He lost, and I think he lost fairly. I’m not disputing anything. Biden is perfectly fine with me as president. But I think that they’re still scared of something like that. It seems like they’re sore winners at this point. And people seem to want to kick me down as well, much like they have Trump. Kick us down when we’re down.”
However, Variety notes that Pink had made contrary statements with respect to the legitimacy of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential elections. According to the publication, Pink said on the Wrong Opinion podcast in late December that January 20 is "the day of the guillotine" and expressed concern for the state of the country if Trump was not certified as the president for a second term.
Pink has also made many controversial remarks doubting climate science and COVID vaccines and has made many homophobic comments. During the podcast, Pink had said "I’m so gay for Trump, I would let him f**k me in the butt.” He also said things like “It’s not illegal to be racist”, “This gay marriage stuff pisses me off”, and “I love necrophiliacs.”