And the first domino falls.
Whether fair or not, often times when a high profile figure is shrouded in scandal, especially when the accusations are as disturbing as the sexual assault and rape accusations levied against country music legend Garth Brooks… you start to see a number of people break ties with the figure, whether it is sponsors or partners, events or gigs that are planned.
And granted, one should always refrain from jumping to hasty conclusions when something like this happens (Garth has vehemently denied all of the accusations against him), and let the truth come out in a court of law before making hasty decisions… but that’s generally not how things work, especially when a lot of money is being tossed around.
That being said, the fallout for Garth Brooks has been minimal so far… of course, Garth tends to keep things pretty “in house” so to speak, so maybe that’s part of it. I mean, you can’t even find his music anywhere to begin with, who’s going to cancel him, Bass Pro Shops? And make no mistake, that’s a good thing given the accusations. I loathe cancel culture, especially when all we have right now is a “he said, she said.” In the event these shocking allegations prove to be true, then by all means…
However, The Late, Late Show, Ireland’s longest running live talk show, cut a Garth Brooks cover performance from their “Country Music Special,” which is an annual event that features a number of country music performances from some of Ireland’s top singers. A cover of “Friends In Low Places” was schedule to be performed on Thursday when the news broke, however RTC scrapped the song amid the allegations against Garth Brooks.
According to The Irish Independent, a spokesperson for RTE (an Irish broadcaster) said the decision was made given the uncertainty of the facts:
“The Late Late country music special was pre-recorded on Thursday. There was uncertainty about the specifics of an emerging news story prior to recording of the song. Through an abundance of caution, a decision was made to make an editorial change. No song was cut from the show. No Garth Brooks song was performed in front of a studio audience.”
Of course, Garth has had a long history with Irish fans, playing a massive show in Dublin in the late ’90s, and then more recently selling over 400,000 tickets to a series of shows at Dublin’s Croke Stadium in 2022.
Hosted by Patrick Kielty, the Country Music Special featured Lisa McHugh, Lee Matthews, Cliona Hagan and Sandy Kelly, as well a Shona McGarty, Philomena Begley, Susan McCann and Margo, and Derek Ryan and The Kilfenora Céilí Band and many, many more.
Garron Noone performed the Keith Whitley classic, “When You Say Nothing At All”
The show also took the time to honor the late great Kris Kristofferson with a performance of “Me & Bobby McGee.”
