One of the most powerful talent representation companies in the world has decided to boycott the University of Oklahoma after a school newspaper dared to publish the rather bland details of a concert contract rider, including the rock star’s secret (not any longer) recipe for guacamole.
Concert riders have long been a source of giggles and schadenfreude for people amused by the petty backstage demands of extremely wealthy musicians and their entourages.
That’s why the recent publication of the contract and rider for Jack White’s concert at OU’s McCasland Field House seems barely worth a mention, certainly compared to the many more outrageous riders that have been leaked over the years.
The former White Stripes frontman doesn’t make any overly bizarre demands — smoked salmon and Fiber One bars aren’t exactly the same as the mountains of cocaine and bowls of barbiturates you hear about from rock acts of previous generations — though he does include a very specific recipe for guacamole (see page 20 of this PDF if you absolutely must have it), but even that is the expected avocados, onions, etc., you’d find in most guac recipes.
The most revealing thing about the contract — which was obtained by the Oklahoma Daily via an Oklahoma Open Records Act request since the school is publicly funded — is that OU paid at least $80,000 for the concert. Again, that’s not terribly shocking for a high-profile artist playing a venue that holds several thousand people.
But these minor revelations, which were published a day before the concert, have apparently ticked the surly rocker off.
“Just because you can type it on your computer doesn’t make it right,” he reportedly told the audience during the show.
Of course we’d counter — you’re extremely wealthy and famous and you got your guacamole, so get back to playing music.
Things have only intensified in the days since, with White’s reps at the all-powerful William Morris Endeavor Entertainment something or other telling the school that it will no longer book any of its music or comedy clients at the school ““until this policy is modified not to disseminate private information.”
Except OU can’t change that policy because it can’t change the Oklahoma Open Records Act — which requires any public entity of the state of Oklahoma to respond to request for records — and it can’t violate that act just to book thin-skinned rock stars who are too secretive about their guacamole recipes.
“OU is basically getting blackballed as a place that’s not welcoming to outside talent,” the Campus Activities Council chairperson tells the Daily. “If [Black Student Association] or [Hispanic American Student Association] want to bring a speaker, any student association, this affects everybody. If they want to bring in musical talent, a speaker, a comedian, it really affects that.”
Rather than give in to the whiny artists’ demands, we’d recommend that every news organization at every state-run school in the country make similar information requests for every big name act that plays at their school.
Being a celebrity does not give you the freedom to hide how much money you’re getting from taxpayers.
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
