July 16, 2015 by admin

Thousands sign online petition protesting Kanye’s Pan Am performance

The man who launched an online petition protesting Kayne West’s performance at the Pan Am Games closing ceremony says he is actually a fan of the Chicago-based hip hop superstar.
“On one hand, I am a Kanye West fan. I do listen to his music so it was exciting to hear such a big name coming to the city,” said Allen Simans, author of a change.org petition titled, ‘Don’t have Kanye West perform at the closing ceremony for the Toronto Pan American Games.’
“But then as I started to think about it, I thought why not give that coveted position to someone who would really appreciate it, who could really do justice to Toronto.”The petition, Simans said, is not so much a “jab” at Kanye as it is a plea to get the Pan Am Games organizers to consider a local headliner for the event instead.
“I’m personally a Toronto-based musical artist so I know how important it is to really get the Toronto community out there and having the Pan Am Games closing ceremony was a really great opportunity for some of the artists that work really hard throughout Toronto to get recognized,” he said.
“We all know Drake is a very proud Toronto representative in the community and I’m sure he would have been a very good substitution.”
The online petition, which was posted Wednesday morning, had reached 5,000 signatures by Wednesday night.
Simans said he was surprised at how quickly it gained traction.
“It is a bit surreal to be honest. I left for work and our petition had about 11 signatures,” he said.
The closing ceremony will be held at the Rogers Centre on July 26 and will also feature Canadian musician Serena Ryder and Miami-based rapper Pitbull.