I thought that this was gonna end badly. While I’ve been a little neglecting of my “For Grownups” section here at The Rock Father lately, one story I’d been meaning to cover was the announcement of Andrew W.K. as a “Cultural Ambassador” to the Middle East – set to hit Bahrain this Saturday. Well, the U.S. State Department pulled the plug on the whole thing mere hours after it was announced. A statement from Andrew W.K. arrived in my email here at Rock Father HQ this afternoon, and I’m sharing it unedited below…
Official Statement by Andrew W.K.
“I’m disappointed and puzzled by their change of heart and last minute decision. I was personally invited to take this trip by The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Bahrain over a year ago. They came to me. The first email they sent me is dated September 13th, 2011 asking me to give a motivational lecture in Bahrain. I was overjoyed and accepted their invitation immediately. We moved forward and completed their extensive approval process, background check, booked all the flights and travel, and had numerous phone calls with the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Office in Manama, Bahrain, who were handling the details. I was scheduled to fly to Bahrain on Saturday, Dec. 1st, 2012. We received our official itinerary from the State Dept. at 5:58am, on Monday, November 26th, 2012. Less than six hours later, we received an urgent telephone call informing us that the entire trip had been canceled, due to some higher level controversy. We couldn’t get any more information or answers as to why this was suddenly canceled at the last minute. When I was originally invited by our contact, it seemed everyone was aware of what I stand for with my positive attitude. They were aware of how I look and my high-energy rock music. They were excited to bring my message of living life to the fullest to the people in the Middle East. I was thrilled at the opportunity to represent my country and the spirit of inclusive and open-minded freedom that makes our nation so special and inspiring. So, for a Department of State representative to say Andrew W.K. ‘doesn’t meet their standards’ after they invited me and planned my trip for a year.. well, that doesn’t meet my standards either. You can’t judge a book by its cover. I would’ve done a great job and represented our nation with dignity and pride. Despite all these challenges, I still would love to go and I vow to continue partying, and working everyday to to unite our human race through the power of positive partying.”
In the interest of partying, let’s go back to the beginning and check out Andrew’s breakout 2001 hit, “Party Hard.”
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For more on the adventures of Andrew W.K., check out http://andrewwk.com
