Bassnectar performs onstage during the Meadows Music and Arts Festival – Day 3 at Citi Field on Sept. 17, 2017, in New York City. Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Following public backlash, the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Ga. has cancelled a pair of Bassnectar shows scheduled at the venue for April.
The cancellation comes amid an ongoing lawsuit against the producer for sexual misconduct allegations. The producer, born Lorin Ashton, has denied these claims.
“Upon learning about the allegations facing the artist Bassnectar, who was set to perform at the Gateway Center Arena on April 26 & 27, the Gateway Center Arena and City of College Park teams launched an internal evaluation of the matter,” the venue wrote in a statement published to its Instagram on Thursday. (Jan. 26) “The safety and well-being of our community are of the utmost importance and as such, we have decided to cancel the event.”
Representatives from the venue did not immediately reply to Billboard‘s request for comment. In a statement to Billboard, Ashton’s attorneys Mitch Schuster and Kim Hodde say that “Lorin Ashton has always denied these outrageous and offensive allegations. He’s never been found liable for anything or even charged with anything. This mob-driven decision is cancel culture gone mad. It is beyond appalling, and we can only hope American society will return to its senses before too much more damage is done.”
On April 6, 2021, Ashton was sued by two women, who allege that he engaged in sexual abuse of minors, child pornography and human trafficking. A month later, two more women joined the lawsuit. (One of these women who joined the suit anonymously later removed herself when the court required her to reveal her legal name in order to proceed.) The case is currently in discovery with a trial date scheduled for February 18, 2025. (The trial was originally scheduled to begin in September of 2023.)
The cancellation of the College Park show comes amid a Bassnectar comeback launched by the producer last year, which included a subscription-based website offering new music and a run of live shows.
Two Bassnectar shows that were intended to happen at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina last October were also cancelled amid public outcry.
The producer did play a pair of sold out shows at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on October 6-7 and a pair of sold out New Year’s Eve 2024 shows at New York City’s Palladium Times Square.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case did not immediately respond to Billboard’s request for comment.
