Paramore have removed posters that feature the names of police brutality victims after being criticized about it on social media. According to NME, the posters were from the band's artwork for their album Riot! and were designed by a fan. The band started selling the t-shirts online and donated proceeds to the NAACP and Color of Change, but they faced some backlash.
One person tweeted, “We know your intentions weren’t bad but seeing the names of Black dead people due to police brutality hanging on a wall as some sort of ‘art piece’ doesn’t sit right. You could hire Black artists that do some amazing work to make Paramore merch and donate the money.”
Hayley Williams responded to the criticism, saying, “Last month, people seemed to love it when it got shared. And truly, we wanted to signal boost it and create another small way to help give to orgs who are fighting against racial inequalities and injustices.”
She added, “That being said, it does no good if it causes more offense than it honors the actual cause. This is no slight to the fan who designed it. However, the last thing we, as white people, should do in the midst of this is cause more confusion and potential harm.”
Williams later thanked fans for “calling it like they see it” and “continuing to educate and have hard conversations.” She added, “To those who saw the poster and were triggered, I am really sorry. We are passionate about this issue and will continue to deepen our understanding.”
She later deleted the tweets.
