As Tone Deaf reported earlier this week, Melbourne punk outfit Cuntz are currently in the midst of a whirlwind US tour, but were recently forced to cancel an appearance in Seattle due to some unfavourable reactions to their name.
In a Facebook post, promoter DASWASUP GIG wrote, “It’s not up to me to decide what is and isn’t offensive to folks, but I do feel like it’s my responsibly to listen to the voices of my friends, peers and fellow musicians who have been upset by me booking a band called Cuntz.”
“I decide to stand with my lady friends and feminist friends on this issue… Apologies to folks who have been hurt and/or offended by this show. This is NOT the kind of thing I want DASWASUPGIG to represent and I admit to having rolled the dice when I should have just said ‘no thanks.’”
Many reacted angrily to the promoter nixing the show, with some pointing out the hypocrisy of cancelling a Cuntz gig, but continuing to promote a show by a band called Child Abuse, whilst others framed it as yet another example of PC culture gone mad.
However, it’s not the first time that Cuntz have been in trouble for their incendiary name. If you take a look at their SoundCloud account, you will find a recording of a broadcast from 3AW host Neil Mitchell, featuring a caller complaining about the band’s name.
The caller rings up to complain about a “particularly offensive” band name he saw advertised on the wall of iconic Collingwood venue The Tote (he decided to take a different route to work that day, as he explains at length), which Mitchell refers to as “the music place”.
After assuring the caller that “an obscenity is an obscenity”, Mitchell later reveals that he consulted a police officer over the legality of displaying the phrase Cuntz on a public-facing wall, who told him that “it is an offence under the summary offences act to display an indecent or offensive writing in public”.
