Perry Farrell Outrages Brazilian Fans
Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell has outraged Brazilian music fans by claiming that they are “uneducated about music” in an interview with Folha de S. Paulo, the nation’s biggest newspaper. In the article, Farrell defended the pre-sale ticketing fiasco for Lollapalooza Brazil – the website crashed within minutes and hackers published buyers’ personal information on the internet – by insisting that Brazil has no tradition of large-scale music festivals and was not prepared. “I think I’m working with good people,” Farrell told Rolling Stone Brazil. “They should know what they are doing. They sell tickets to football matches!”
Shortly after the story hit, Brazilian fans chastised the singer on Twitter, resulting in Farrell becoming a local trending topic. “My wife took me to Twitter. I was going crazy,” said Farrell. “I said, ‘My God, Etty, they hate me! They are very angry with me. I messed up?'”
Farrell then posted a series of tweets, denying the comments and claiming that the Folha de S. Paulo reporter misquoted him. “Brazil, I NEVER SAID you were not educated in music! I called her this morning to confront her. I love and respect your culture and country,” he wrote, followed by “Just finished another day of press, realized some people are angry with me. I DID NOT say that about Brazil Music Education,” and “Unfortunately that writer took liberty & put words in my month. Invented things that I DID NOT say in order to cause a sensation. That writer is the disappointment of my otherwise amazing visit to Brazil.”
Commenting on the backlash to Rolling Stone, he said “I’m sensitive, man. I’m leaving Brazil, and I swear, I lost a few years [of life].”
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