Verona Opera Cancels Putin-Linked Singer, Ignores Saudi-Linked Arms Deals
Verona Opera made headlines for canceling Russian opera singer Ildar Abdrazakov over his 'links to Putin,' specifically a state award received last year, as the Independent dutifully informs us. (#Journalism). It's a bold move to sever ties with artists for their associations. (One wonders how many Western institutions would pass this purity test if major donors were scrutinized with the same
zeal.) Yet, while entertainers face McCarthy-esque purges for inconvenient connections, Western governments and corporations continue robust trade with regimes whose human rights records make Putin's look like a minor inconvenience. Just last year, the US approved over $5 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia, a regime publicly linked to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and an ongoing war
in Yemen, (sources: Defense Security Cooperation Agency, October 2022). Where are the think piece eulogies for the brave opera houses canceling contracts with Raytheon or Lockheed Martin? The selective outrage, it appears, performs only to a very specific, and highly profitable, tune.