Slayer’s Tom Araya Wants ‘Snowflake’ Fans To Respect President Trump
Slayer have made an official statement regarding the controversy surrounding one of the band’s recent Instagram posts. The post was a picture of Donald Trump throwing metal horns along with the Thrash Metal giants. It has since been revealed that the person responsible for the photo to be none other than the band’s frontman, Tom Araya. Araya had even called the fans that seemed upset by the picture “snowflakes”.
The band’s official Instagram handle, slayerbandofficial, had first posted the same photo on inauguration day on January 20, last Friday. But the post was quickly deleted following a lot of negative responses from the fans. It was reposted on Tuesday, along with a message from the frontman, Tom Araya, who said all those who were offended by the picture were snowflakes. Araya also urged the followers to respect the new President more.
The band spoke with Rolling Stone about this controversy, claiming that the post reflected Tom’s personal opinions and not that of the band.
“As was verified by Tom, this was his post, is not something the band would have posted if asked, and does not belong on a Slayer social page. We all have our personal opinions, some of which we have voiced in the past, but Slayer has never endorsed any political party or any candidate, and the band intends to keep it that way.”
Araya even took to the comment section of the posts, justifying his use of the term “snowflake” by sharing Urban Dictionary’s definition of the term: “An overly sensitive person, incapable of dealing with any opinions that differ from their own. These people can often be seen congregating in ‘safe zones’ on college campuses.”
Like, not even getting into the "snowflakes" and "fruits" shit, which is indefensibly gross. pic.twitter.com/s2cyYGtHPu
— Michael Nelson (@nelsonicboom) January 25, 2017
That wasn’t enough for Araya. He continued replying to the follower’s comments, at one point even making a homophobic joke.
“Mike Pence turning fruits into vegetables. (Laughing emojis)”
“Thanks… to everybody that has commented thanks for insight… this is how fake news gets started, not once did I say that I supported Trump… and assuming I speak for the band you are mistaking [sic].. the picture did exactly what I thought it would do… piss some of you off.”
The tension within the band over the political climate seems apparent, specially considering how Guitarist Kerry King has told Rolling Stone in an interview from last summer that he was supporting Hillary Clinton on accord of her being the safe and correct choice. He had even mocked Trump, calling him a sideshow and one of the the biggest liars he’d ever seen in politics. Kerry had called Trump a sideshow and said that he didn’t even feel like apologizing to his followers. He claimed the only reason Trump was so popular was because he was like the politics version of WWE, sensational, and so very appealing to middle class America.
Slayer were formed in Huntington Park, California in 1981. The band consists of Tom Araya, Kerry King, Paul Bostaph and Gary Holt while past members include Dave Lombardo and the late Jeff Hanneman. The band rose to fame in 1986 following the release of the album Reign in Blood. They have released a total of 12 studio albums, two live albums, two extended plays, six music videos, a cover album and a box set. Together with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, the band is credited as being one o the “big four” of Thrash Metal. The band have received 5 Grammy nominations, winning one in 2007 and another in 2008. From their earliest days the band’s lyrics and art have been subject to controversy for including topics of murder, genocide, Satanism, torture, Nazism, terrorism and warfare among other negative themes.
Hope the band work out their political differences before their appearances in various festivals in South America, Europe and the U.S. starting this spring.
[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]
