Days after participating in a demonstration that led to a deadly right-wing insurrection on the United States Capitol, Los Angeles independent musician Ariel Pink tried to defend his actions on the program of Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday.
“I didn’t have a choice, there’s nothing else for me to do,” said Pink, looking shaken and nervous. “I can’t even pay my lawyer right now.”
Pink, an acclaimed but antagonistic figure in the experimental Los Angeles music scene, became an unlikely martyr hero of the far right after photos of him participating in the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6 (with fellow local artist from vanguard John Maus) emerged.
Within hours, Pink was dropped by her Mexican Summer label and suffered a strong reaction from fans. “Due to recent events, Mexican Summer and his team have decided to end our working relationship with Ariel Rosenberg, also known as Ariel Pink, in the future,” the label said in a statement after the rally.
Pink had previously appeared on Fox News in 2013 and recently expressed support for Trump. “I simply think that trump card is the only thing that prevents total collapse. liar media psychologists in search of the Biden / Harris presidency are more frightening to me, ”he wrote in December.
But on Carlson’s show, Pink tried to explain her presence at a rally that ended with a violent crowd of supporters of President Trump taking the government seat by siege.
“I went to the White House to see our president, I went to the hotel, I took a nap, end of story,” he said, claiming he was not at the scene of the US government’s attempted ouster. “I was there for a peaceful rally, that was all for me.”
Carlson tried to take the issue back to Pink’s “cancellation” from the left. “You did the most transgressive thing, you turned out to be a public supporter of Trump … when you found out that your career had been destroyed?
“I also can’t tour now, it leaves me helpless and on the street,” said Pink, lowering her head. “I’m a little overwhelmed now and I don’t know what to do. My family is receiving death threats. Hate is overwhelming. People are so mean. I am terrified. “
(On the same day of the rally, Pink also lost a case in Los Angeles Superior Court when a judge rejected his attempt to obtain a restraining order against his ex-girlfriend, Charlotte Ercoli Coe, who had accused him of emotional and sexual abuse. )
Carlson, in the interview, seemed aware that he was dealing with an unexpected MAGA martyr figure on the edge of LA experimental music. “You are taking a big risk from this program, why are you doing this? he asked.
“I have no other recourse,” said Pink. “What I’ll do?”