The Black Eyes Peas are boiling in some hot water after a New Year’s Eve performance in Poland. The band was hired by Polish broadcaster TVP to headline the network’s “New Year’s of Dreams” show. But once the Peas took the stage, each of the group’s members were seen sporting rainbow armbands, which were reportedly kept on for the duration of their performance. The armbands were meant as a visible show of support for LGBTQ+ rights, after right-wing Polish officials have continued to stir hate toward the country’s queer citizens.
Poland’s conservative Law and Justice party (abbreviated in Polish language as “PiS”), which has been responsible for the consistent rise of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in the country after the reelection of openly queerphobic President Andrzej Duda, was outraged by the Peas’ unexpected move.
Party member Marcin Warchol tweeted, “LGBT promotion in #TVP2! DISGRACE! It’s not a New Year’s Eve of Dreams but a New Year’s Eve of Deviance.” A fellow member, Janusz Kowalski, added, “Homopropoganda on TVP for $1 million dollars…shame.”
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After the performance, lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am, took to Instagram live to expand on the group’s motivation. “We are the Black Eyes Peas…or, you can say, ‘Black Eyed Peace.’ We’re about peace, equality, harmony,” he said. “We are not the Black Eyes PiS. We stand for unity, love, tolerance, oneness. Sometimes you’ve gotta go where people don’t have the same views…to inspire them on what tolerance looks like.
TVP, which has been criticized for airing one-sided programming favorable to the Law and Justice party, would’ve had to hire the Black Eyes Peas themselves. Why the executives at TVP thought that a group who made waves in 2003 with an anti-terrorism, anti-war, pro-unity song called “Where Is The Love?” would be the right choice for a performance on state television is laughably unclear.
Before their performance of “Where Is The Love?” during the broadcast, will.i.am grabbed the mic to make his intentions completely clear. “We dedicate this song [to] those that have experienced hate throughout this year. The Jewish community, we love you. People of African descent all around the world, we love you. The LGBTQ community, we love you.”
Will.i.am has spent the day retweeting positive reactions from Polish fans, as well as quote tweeting responses to conservative Polish officials. Firing back at Warchol’s tweet, will.i.am expanded on his reasoning further, saying, “Unity, tolerance, understanding, oneness, respect, diversity, and inclusion…THAT’S LOVE…we should all practice to honor and love the different types of people on earth.”
