Kelly Clarkson Under Fire For Cigarette Company Sponsorship
April 22nd, 2010
Kelly Clarkson has come under fire after billboards and TV ads popped up in Jakarta promoting her upcoming concert – and right next to Clarkson’s glamorous photo is a prominent logo of her concert’s sponsor, Indonesian cigarette company L.A. Lights.
The Miss Independent singer claims she knew nothing about the sponsorship, but antismoking activists have immediately called on Clarkson to cancel the show, or risk sending the wrong message to her young fans.
“My morning began with finding out that I am all over billboards, TV ads and other media formats alongside a tobacco company who, unbeknownst to me, is sponsoring my Jakarta date on my current tour,” she writes on her blog.
“I was not made aware of this and am in no way an advocate or an ambassador for youth smoking. I’m not even a smoker, nor have I ever been.”
That said, Clarkson has no intention of canceling her April 29 show.
“Unfortunately, my only option at this point was to cancel the show in order to stop the sponsorship. However, I can’t justify penalizing my fans for someone else’s oversight,” she writes.
“This is a lose-lose situation for me and I am not happy about it but the damage has been done and I refuse to cancel on my fans. I think the hardest part of situations like this is getting personally attacked for something I was completely unaware of and being used as some kind of political pawn.”
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) retorts that Clarkson has “let down her fans and chosen to be a spokesperson for the tobacco industry” by continuing her performance, says spokeswoman Marina Carter.
“In doing so, Ms. Clarkson is allowing her name, image and talent to be used to promote cigarettes to Indonesian youth,” Carter says.
“We again call on Ms. Clarkson to withdraw tobacco industry sponsorship of her concert and to demand the removal of any tobacco-branded advertising and promotions associated with it.”
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