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Artist News
Chainsmokers apologise for Chinese dog meat gag
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 12 September 2017
The Chainsmokers have apologised for a comment made in a recent interview in China, in which the duo’s Alex Pall joked that he was worried that Chinese people might eat his dog.
Following an appearance at the Ultra China festival over the weekend, the EDM act posted a video to Twitter discussing their trip. Answering a question about taking his pet dog on tour, Pall said that he’d take her everywhere with him if he could, before quipping: “Well, I don’t know if I’d bring her to China”.
The video was quickly taken down – although not before being screengrabbed by Buzzfeed– after it sparked a negative reaction from people angry that Pall played into the stereotype that Chinese people eat dogs, and others more angry that he would joke about the serious issue of people in China eating dogs.
In a statement, Pall responded to the controversy, saying: “I made a comment in an interview about being hesitant to bring my dog, Cheddar, to China, because I have read reports about dogs being slaughtered in certain provinces. We originally posted a video to share how much we love China and our fans there. We would never intentionally do anything to upset our fans and we apologise if we offended anyone”.
He then posted a link to the website of a charity which works to end the practice of slaughtering and eating dogs in China, in particular at the annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival. Though polls show that the majority of people in China are against that event and the slaughter of dogs in general, so suggesting that his own dog would be at risk in the country still makes Pall look a bit of an arse.
