Lithuanian EDM producer Marijus Adomaitis, better known as his stage name Ten Walls, rose to fame in the summer of 2014 releasing what turned out to be one of Ibiza’s (and therefore dance music’s) most played track; Walking With Elephants.
Last week however he wasn’t topping any popularity charts, in fact quite the opposite. In a bizarre rant on his personal Facebook account, Marijus expressed his discontent against the LGBTI community. If you can read Lithuanian then you’re in luck as the original post, albeit long taken down, was screenshotted and is doing the rounds on the internet:
For those without the native tongue; Marijus first tells an anecdote of working with a fellow Lithuanian musician who “tried to wash my brain that I don’t need to be so conservative and intolerant about them”. He recalls responding “I asked him ‘what would you do if you realised your 16 year old son’s browny (anus) was ripped by his boyfriend?’ … well he was silent”.
Further he then likens homosexuals to paedophiles in another anecdote: “One of my first gigs in Ireland, on my way to my hotel I saw a church with a fence decorated with hundreds of baby shoes. Naturally I wondered why? Unfortunately a priest’s lie for many years was uncovered when children were massively raped. Unfortunately the people of this other breed continue to do it and everyone knows it but does nothing”.
PR Training anyone?
Naturally, the post was removed in minutes and a mandatory apology status was issued, albeit too late.
The growing backlash from fans, fellow artists and event organisers has lead to Marijus being dropped not only by his events agency, but by events such as Creamfields, Sonar festival, Pitch festival and Urban Art Forms.
Yesterday afternoon in a bid to salvage any possible career for himself as a respected musician, he released this statement:
“Last week I wrote a Facebook post that was wrong and completely out of character and the result was a badly written post that was unacceptable. It was never my intention to offend anyone. I’m really saddened by everything that has happened and I would like to apologise to everyone I’ve let down, especially to my friends in the gay community, and my fans. I now need to take a break and have cancelled my upcoming shows.”
Is it too little too late? Only time will tell.
♣ Like us on Facebook | http://tiny.cc/sosface
♣ Follow us on Twitter | http://tiny.cc/sostwit
♣ Listen to us on YouTube | http://tiny.cc/sosyou
Science of Sound 