Brian Wilson: Boycott the Beach Boys

Tweet comes as Mike Love's band is set to perform for Safari Club International
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 4, 2020 6:21 AM CST
Brian Wilson: Boycott the Beach Boys
In this Feb. 12, 2012, file photo, from left, Bruce Johnston, David Marks, Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine of the Beach Boys pose backstage at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

A founding member of the Beach Boys wants people to boycott, um, the Beach Boys. In a Monday tweet, Brian Wilson linked to an online petition asking fans to stop supporting the band until it withdraws from a Wednesday concert at Safari Club International's annual convention in Nevada, where avid hunter Donald Trump Jr. will be keynote speaker, per NBC News. The petition also requests band members "publicly state their opposition to this sick 'sport' of killing animals for 'fun'" since "a staggering 870 companies will be selling trophy hunting holidays and wildlife body parts." Wilson noted he and fellow co-founder Al Jardine "are emphatically opposed to" trophy hunting. But "there's nothing we can do personally to stop the show, so please join us in signing the petition," he wrote.

The original band members last toured together in 2012. Jardine has now joined Wilson on his tour as a solo artist. It is the band led by Beach Boys co-founder Mike Love, who has exclusive rights to use the group's name on tour, that will perform at the convention, per the Guardian. It looks like the show will go on, despite the fact that the petition has 75,000 signatures as of this writing. "We look forward to a night of great music in Reno and, as always, support freedom of thought and expression as a fundamental tenet of our rights as Americans," Love said in a statement Monday night, per Variety. A rep for Safari Club International added "each year, the hunters that make up our chapters do more for wildlife and the conservation of species and habitats than any online petition will ever do." (More Beach Boys stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X