When legendary nu metal vocalist and international justice advocate Serj Tankian condemned Imagine Dragons’ choice to proceed with performances in Israel and Azerbaijan last year--in spite of challenges to boycott those countries for their active human rights abuses--the band’s frontman Dan Reynolds had this to say to Rolling Stone:
“I don’t believe in depriving our fans who want to see us play because of the acts of their leaders and their governments. I think that’s a really slippery slope. I think the second you start to do that, there’s corrupt leaders and warmongers all over the world, and where do you draw the line?”
If Reynolds thought these words defending his band’s choice to perform in countries actively engaged in blockades of civilian populations, systems of apartheid, and ethnic cleansing would be the last on the subject, then he was mistaken. On July 4th, Tankian took to Instagram with this in response:
“Respectfully, I draw the line at ethnic cleansing and genocide. Azerbaijan’s dictatorship with popular support was already into a 9 month starvation blockade of Nagorno-Karabagh qualified as Genocide by former @icc prosecutor @luismorenoocampo when they decided to play Baku. Would they play in Nazi Germany? Why don’t they want to play in Russia? Because it’s not popular?”
Tankian is referencing the seemingly principled stand Imagine Dragons took back in 2022 in support of Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression, which included flying the Ukraine flag during concerts, a call with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, and the release of a short film featuring their single “Crushed”, which told the story of a young Ukrainian victim of that war. The band were named Ambassadors for UNITED24, a humanitarian aid organization founded by Zelenskyy on behalf of Ukraine.
Tankian was quick to point out the apparent hypocrisy of Reynolds’ position.
“They support Ukraine but not Armenians of Artsakh? The only “slippery slope” is the farce moral equivalency at the heart of this hypocritical attitude. I have nothing against this guy nor his band. I just hate artists being taken advantage of to whitewash Genocidal dictatorships.”
