Green Day banned by Las Vegas radio stations after Billie Joe Armstrong calls the city a 's---hole'
"I hate Las Vegas," the Green Day frontman said in response to his hometown team, the Oakland A's, making the move to Sin City.
Some Las Vegas radio stations have decided that Billie Joe Armstrong is an American idiot.
The Green Day frontman raised the ire of rock station KOMP 92.3 and x 107.5 after calling Las Vegas "the worst s---hole in America." Armstrong made his rather virulent remarks during a Sept. 20 show with Green Day at San Francisco's Oracle Park, according to PEOPLE.
"We don’t take no s--- from people like John f---ing Fisher who sold out the Oakland A’s to Las f---ing Vegas,” he said onstage. "I hate Las Vegas. It’s the worst s---hole in America."
Related: Do you have the time... to watch Green Day and Jimmy Fallon go busking in an NYC subway station?
Armstrong is an Oakland native, and his comments referred to John Fisher, the current owner of the Oakland A's baseball team. Fisher has owned the A's since 2005, but back in April, he announced the MLB team's planned relocation to the Las Vegas Strip to play in a still-to-be-built stadium that will replace the former site of the not-yet-demolished Tropicana hotel.
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Tre Cool, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Mike Dirnt of Green DayThe move has engendered a lot of vitriol among A's fans, particularly because the team will be temporarily moving to a minor league stadium in Sacramento, Calf., for at least the next three to four seasons. Additionally, there are still no finalized renderings of the potential Vegas ballpark and a financing plan remains yet unseen. They ended their final season in Oakland after playing there for nearly 60 years.
In expressing his dislike of Fisher and Las Vegas, Armstrong was merely joining the sentiments of other A's fans, who broke out into a a "F--- John Fisher" chant at the final game in Oakland on Sept. 26.
But the residents and radio stations of Vegas didn't take kindly to Armstrong's disparaging remarks about their city. KOMP 92.3 announced their plans to pull all Green Day music from their station on Instagram. "KOMP 92.3 has pulled any and all Green Day from our playlist," they wrote. "It’s not us, Billie…it’s you. #vegas4ever."
The other station to implement a ban, X 107.5, shared a more detailed statement on their own ban on their website, with midday host Carlota also make the announcement on air. "Well, Sin City heard [Armstrong] loud and clear—and X107.5 is not having it," they wrote. "In response to Armstrong’s inflammatory comments, the station is banning all Green Day music, effective immediately....Armstrong has crossed a line with Las Vegas locals. We’re breaking up with Green Day completely. Bye Bye, Billie!"
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Green Day's last official tour stop in Las Vegas was way back in 2004, so it seems the feeling is largely mutual.
Representatives for Armstrong did not immediately return Entertainment Weekly's request for comment, and Armstrong has not commented on the ban on his social media. He did, however, post a tribute to his beloved baseball team.
"Me playing in the sand with my Oakland A’s hat," Armstrong wrote. "Must be around 6 years old.. the athletics leaving Oakland is devastating. I feel for all the fans and the people that will lose their jobs because of greed.. 3 sports teams have left Oakland in the past 5 years Leaving a cultural hole in the east bay hearts and sport. I DO believe that Oakland will come back from this."
Green Day's latest album was 2023's Saviors, which they are still currently touring in support of.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
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