My View on the Action Bronson Controversy at NXNE

This appeared in the Metro papers earlier this week:

Because I was travelling, I missed the debate on whether rapper Action Bronson should perform a free public show during NXNE in Toronto.

By the time I got home, it was settled: a petition against Branson’s violent and misogynist lyrics had scuttled the gig.

This whole thing left me unsettled and confused. While I understand all the objections to the things Branson raps about, I was also annoyed at the censorship side of it all. Is this an example of mob rule? Or did the public rise up and demand that decency be protected in a public space?

So I did what I always do when I wander into the weeds in these sorts of debates: I asked my wife. I can always trust her to tell me when I’m being an idiot — and because her second favourite f-word is “feminist.”

Read the rest here.