Hanson’s normally cult-like fan base is reexamining their support for the group following their behavior across the past few months. A recent report from Vice reveals that Hanson is facing strong criticism from their fan base, one that started after they took longer than expected to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. After the death of George Floyd and the protests that followed, the group carried on with their normal social media routine for days before they delivered a message. Despite this, fans were still unhappy with what their statement said as it did not include the “Black Lives Matter” slogan. The group failed to use it until a post on June 9 to their Instagram, more than two weeks after Floyd’s death.
Things got worse for Hanson when a now-deleted Pinterest account that was said to belong to drummer Zac Hanson leaked online. The account featured pro-gun memes, many of which were racist, sexist, and transphobic. Zac later confirmed the account belonged to him and issued a statement to Vice that read, “The leaked Pinterest page provided a distorted view of the issues surrounding race and social justice, which do not reflect my personal beliefs.” He added, “I apologize for the hurt my actions caused.”
The actions from the band over the past few months pushed fans to create the “PostHanson” subreddit, which currently houses over 1,200 members, intended for “former and ambivalent Hanson fans to discuss and support each other.” Additionally, Black fans of the group spoke to Vice and shared their current thoughts on Hanson. “They went from being the princes of pop to the kings of being tone deaf,” said one fan. Another said, “For me, to say Black lives matter should be as easy as saying the sky is blue because it’s a fact. Period. So, to have them duck and dive and do everything that they could possibly do to not say Black lives matter was really interesting. It was just weird.”
(via Vice)
