CMAT has pulled out of Latitude Festival because of its ties to Israel.
The Irish singer, 28, was due to perform at the Suffolk-based event in July but revealed she would no longer be attending because the main sponsor is Barclays – who have been accused of funding Israel’s attacks on Palestine.
Europe’s largest Palestinian rights organisation, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), has called on people to boycott Barclays and the bank branch has been subject to protests in recent weeks.
In a lengthy Instagram post on Thursday, CMAT – real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – revealed she had asked Latitude to reconsider their choice of sponsor and warned she would not perform if they refused to cut ties with the bank.
Claiming she was ‘utterly devastated’ by the decision, she shared her hopes at performing at Latitude in the future and called on her followers to ‘show solidarity’ with the people of Palestine by also boycotting Barclays.
Irish singer CMAT has pulled out of Latitude Festival because of its ties to Israel telling her fans she was ‘utterly devastated’ by the decision in a lengthy Instagram post on Thursday
The Irish singer, 28, was due to perform at the Suffolk-based event in July but is no longer attending because the main sponsor is Barclays – who have been accused of funding Israel’s attacks on Palestine (pictured on Sunday at BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend)
Alongside pictures of herself ahead of her first Latitude gig, CMAT shared: ’Hi everyone, I am very sorry to announce that I am officially pulling out of playing the main stage of Latitude festival 2024.
‘You may or may not be aware, but Latitude’s main sponsor is Barclay’s bank, who have been revealed to have increased their financing of various companies who are supplying weapons and military technology to Israel.
‘Specifically, it has invested over £100 Million into General Dynamics which provides gun systems to the fighter jets which are being used by Israel to bombard Gaza.
‘I made Latitude aware of what my decision would be weeks ago, but was hoping that with all of the press surrounding the brave artists who pulled out of The Great Escape festival for the same reasons, that Latitude would divest from Barclays or find another sponsor.
‘This has not happened and it has been made clear to me that it will not happen. As such I am now officially pulling out.
‘I will not allow my precious work, my music, which I love so much, to get into bed with violence. Myself, and the entire CMAT touring crew who I love so much, refuse to be complicit in genocide.
‘I want to say how utterly devastated I am that it has come to this. I love Latitude festival, they gave me one of my first big festival slots back in 2021, and playing the sunrise arena is one of my most cherished memories ever.
‘(The image used here is me on my way to the stage. I was so excited! It was the first time id met so many people who believed in me and I had been looking forward to the full circle moment this slot would have given me, the band, and my fans. ‘
In a lengthy Instagram post on Thursday, CMAT – real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – revealed she had asked Latitude to reconsider their choice of sponsor
CMAT also shared pictures of herself attending a pro Palestine rally as she called on her followers to ‘show solidarity’ with the people of Palestine by also boycotting Barclays
CMAT continued: ‘I really hope to play this festival again in the future under different circumstances, and under a different sponsor.
‘I also want to say I am so so sorry to be letting down anyone who was coming to see us at Latitude. I really hope I can make it up to you somehow, and I hope you can understand my choice to not play.
‘I toyed with the idea of playing and donating our fee, but it honestly just isn’t what the BDS movement is asking me to do, and I could never claim to know more than them.
‘Let me be clear. There is a genocide happening in Palestine right now. All I can do as a citizen is turn up to as many demonstrations as possible and try to follow the advice of the BDS boycott list as closely as I possibly can. This falls under that action.
‘I hope that as many of you reading this as possible will choose to show your solidarity with the Palestinian people in whatever way you can.
‘Boycott Barclays. Free Palestine. Lots of love, CMAT XXX [sic].’
Europe’s largest Palestinian rights organisation, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), had called on people to boycott Barclays.
‘Barclays Bank holds over £1 billion in shares, and provides over £3 billion in loans and underwriting to nine companies whose weapons, components, and military technology are being used by Israel in its attacks on Palestinians,’ the group said at the time.
‘This includes General Dynamics, which produces the gun systems that arm the fighter jets used by Israel to bombard Gaza, and Elbit Systems, which produces armoured drones, munitions and artillery weapons used by the Israeli military.’
MailOnline has contacted Barclays and Latitude Festival for comment.
Earlier this year, CMAT raised eyebrows when she attended the BRIT Awards in a daring dress after being nominated for International Artist of the Year
CMAT was born in Dublin and moved to Manchester in her teenage years to launch her music career, before returning to her native Ireland where she resides now.
Her debut studio album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead was released in February 2022 and reached No 1 in Ireland and won the RTÉ Choice Music Prize last year.
The singer, who is bisexual, is also an avid campaigner of LGBTQ rights.
Earlier this year, CMAT raised eyebrows when she attended the BRIT Awards in a daring dress.
The singer was nominated for International Artist of the Year alongside Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift and got people talking with her dress, which featured a scooping back that showed off her bottom.
She addressed the backlash on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, saying she made sure ‘the amount of bum crack on show was the same as the average amount of cleavage’ typically on show and added that her outfit wasn’t dissimilar from other looks.
CMAT claimed: ‘I think mine caused a stir because it’s big and because I’m a size 14 as opposed to a size six, which is commonly what you do see on television especially when it comes to musicians and pop stars.
‘I had a lot of people that were very angry that I would do such a thing. They were horrified, and people were really angry and aggressive in comments, telling me I had to go to the gym. The backlash was crazy.’
Speaking to 6 Music, she added: ‘Loads of people in the comments are like, ‘She’s attention seeking! She’s an attention seeker!’ So? Yeah, that’s my job!’
CMAT’s decision comes after Hay Festival ‘caved’ to growing boycott pressure and ended its longstanding sponsorship deal with a firm in light of its investments in fossil fuels and Israel.
CMAT’s debut studio album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead was released in February 2022 and reached No 1 in Ireland (pictured at BBC Radio1 Big Weekend festival)
The literary festival in Wales, which is taking place until June 2, cut ties with investment management firm Baillie Gifford ‘in light of claims raised by campaigners and intense pressure on artists to withdraw’.
Noted figures including comedian Nish Kumar, singer Charlotte Church and Labour MP Dawn Butler all pulled out of the event.
A spokesperson for Baillie Gifford said the suggestion it is a large investor in the occupied Palestinian territories is ‘seriously misleading’.
Julie Finch, chief executive of Hay Festival Global, said in a statement that the charity’s first priority is ‘our audience and our artists.’
