Jazz musician Kamasi Washington ended a show in Austria early following claims that venue security assaulted his father.
As reported by The Fader, Washington was scheduled to perform a full set at Arena Wien in Vienna, but the show was cut short after Washington’s father (who is also a touring member of his band) had a run-in with venue security. “The reason why we’re late tonight is because a security guard here assaulted my father, Rickey Washington,” he told the audience. “I met this man face to face. He looked at me and laughed. He said, ‘He was acting like an asshole.’ I said, ‘You don’t get to do that to him. We’re all going to leave.’”
Washington and his band performed only one song, “Truth,” in protest. Despite his disappointment in security, Washington still showed love for his Austrian fans. “I love y’all, and even though we look different and speak different languages I feel like we are one. All of us.”
In a lengthy post on Facebook, venue officials acknowledged that the incident could be seen as racist, and they are “very sad” at how everything went down. They will be refunding all ticketholders and donating the entire cash turnover from the night to a charity organization.
Watch footage of Washington’s speech to the audience above.
