David Guetta has been condemned online for his “tone deaf” dedication to George Floyd and his family during a livestream fundraiser.
Guetta was performing atop atop the 30 Rockefeller Centre, as part of his United at Home set in collaborationn with NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, when he stated that he made “a record in honour of” Floyd.
“Shout out to his family,” he said, before using a sample of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s “I Have a Dream” speech right before the drop.
“Dono where to start w counting the levels of tone deaf and wrong here,” DJ Hudson Mohawke commented, in his re-sharing of Guetta’s performance on Twitter.
Dono where to start w counting the levels of tone deaf and wrong here pic.twitter.com/kzbctNwcjv
— Hudson Mohawke (@HudMo) May 31, 2020
“Clearly he’s not intending to offend and he’s attempting to do a noble thing by raising some money for a good cause,” Hudson Mohawke continued, “but the execution is so hilariously off key in so many ways it’s mind-blowing.”
Many have since taken to Twitter to agree with Mohawke’s sentiments.
*400 years of systemic oppression*
David Guetta: pic.twitter.com/fcwskvW0lu
— Kyle (@decent_posts) May 31, 2020
David guetta really said “shout out” to George Floyd’s family like he shouting out his friend at the club 🥴🥴 a dummy
— symphani (@SymphaniSoto) June 1, 2020
there’ve been a lot of crimes committed against my ppl this weekend, but david guetta putting a drop behind MLK’s “i have a dream” speech is up there https://t.co/4iskArPcVy
— holmes (@charlesxholmes) May 31, 2020
It’s true that Guetta’s set raised a lot of money for the NYC Mayor’s Fund. It’s also true that his ‘dedication’, in spite of his intentions, came off as extremely misguided and disingenuous. I mean, ‘shouting out’ Floyd’s grieving family before transitioning into a euro house track? It’s off, to put it kindly. Way off.
https://twitter.com/sdbcraig/status/1267178589062983680
Speaking of tone deaf, check out this Aussie reporter’s coverage of the America riots, stating that “people in Australia don’t have the understanding of the history of police killings and things here”, despite our country’s excessive history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody.
