In business, you can one day find yourself kicked out of your own company – just look at Steve Jobs. Now this same heart-wrenching maneuver is hitting the dance world as Live Nation has taken the step of kicking out HARD Events‘ Founder and President, Gary Richards aka Destructo. HARD was acquired by Live Nation in 2012.
Current rumors explain that Live Nation does not want to book Destructo on events like Holy Ship and are making moves to force him out of the company. This is troublesome as Gary Richards is to HARD what Pasquale Rotella is to Insomniac.
#NogaryNoship pic.twitter.com/DDiOMTSyQ7
— AlexMuffinn♬ (@AlexMuffinn) August 2, 2017
However, HARD Events has come upon bad fortune of late. HARD Summer had a rough few years and Hard Day of the Day was cancelled last year. HARD Summer has also been forced to change venues for many years now, and obviously Live Nation has had enough.
The thing Live Nation doesn’t realize is the love that the community has for Destructo, as he has built quite the community with HARD’s events. Think, for example, the family that exists with Holy Ship – notably known as the #shipfam.
DJs like Boys Noize and Skrillex are showing their support for Richards on social media, and we can imagine that the hashtag #nogarynoship will only continue to grow in popularity today. A petition has also already been started to show support against the maneuver.
Check out some of the supportive tweets from fans and artists alike below. You can sign the petition here.
No Gary, No Ship #shipfam https://t.co/cS3MIKPhhk
— Boys Noize (@boysnoize) August 2, 2017
No way would I have ever done @HOLY_SHIP if it wasn’t for @DestructoHARD …almost positive I can speak for most of the artists
— SKRILLEX (@Skrillex) August 2, 2017
@LiveNation we won't let you turn @HOLY_SHIP into another mainstream festival. #shipfam is real and we're here to sail ⚓️ #nogarynoship
— Whitney Stout (@Witneyasinhustn) August 2, 2017
Raise your hand if you don't want to make your next ship payment 🙋🏻 #NOLINEUPNOPAYMENT #nogarynoship @LiveNation @HOLY_SHIP https://t.co/T4klH8sXQV
— Katherine Schober (@kschoyouknow) August 2, 2017
It's called #shipfam for a reason w/o @DestructoHARD there is no @HOLY_SHIP back off @LiveNation #NogaryNoship @mrJUSTINMARTIN @VonStroke
— Dani⚓️DND till 🐣🏕 (@danivelasquezz) August 2, 2017
