System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian has publicly criticized Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds for the band’s decision to perform in Azerbaijan, calling the move a form of support for a dictatorial regime, according to Blabbermouth.net.
Last month, Tankian, who is Armenian-American, expressed his disapproval of Imagine Dragons’ September 2, 2023, concert in Baku. In a personal letter to the band prior to the event, Tankian urged them to cancel the show, arguing that performing in Azerbaijan would help to “whitewash the dictatorial regime’s image.” He cited a news report from the Associated Press, indicating that the country was preparing for genocide against ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Tankian’s letter emphasized the potential negative impact on Imagine Dragons’ brand and implored the band to reconsider their decision.
Following the band’s decision to go ahead with the concert, Tankian told Metal Hammer, “I don’t respect them [Imagine Dragons] as human beings. Fuck their art, they’re not good human beings as far as I’m concerned.”
In response to Tankian’s criticism, Reynolds defended the band’s decision, saying, “I don’t believe in depriving our fans who want to see us play because of the acts of their leaders and their governments,” Reynolds stated. “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?”
On Thursday night (July 4), Tankian took to social media to respond to Reynolds’s remarks. Quoting Reynolds’s rhetorical question, Tankian wrote, “Respectfully, I draw the line at ethnic cleansing and genocide.” He continued, “Azerbaijan’s dictatorship with popular support was already into a 9-month starvation blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh qualified as genocide by former International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo when they [Imagine Dragons] decided to play Baku.”
Tankian further challenged Reynolds’s stance by questioning the band’s selective approach to performing in countries with controversial governments. “Would they play in Nazi Germany? Why don’t they want to play in Russia? Because it’s not popular? They support Ukraine but not Armenians of Artsakh?” He concluded, “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.”
Serj Tankian recently released a memoir, “Down With The System,” on May 14 via Hachette Books. Meanwhile, Imagine Dragons issued new album, Loom, on June 28 via Interscope.
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