Kenny G freaked, because he has made a crap-ton of money in China - his song “Going Home” is apparently the official song of closin’ time in Chinese malls and shops, and he doesn’t want to jeopardize that.
But in response, Protest sympathizers are having none of his apologies:
Poor Kenny G. :dubious: :smack: 
I’m with the demonstrators. He’s rich enough, I should think; standing with those seeking greater freedom in HK should trump his concerns with making even more money in the PRC. But I’m an idealist that way…
It is very easy to spend someone else’s money, isn’t it?
Rich people do it all the time.
It is indeed, but I didn’t spend it. I just opined that he should be willing to do without some for a higher cause.
I read this earlier today, and thought about opening a thread about it. It pretty much shows that only one thing is important to the man, doesn’t it?
The C-note?
I initially thought this was about Kenny Rogers when I skimmed the title, and thought “well of course Kenny knows when to fold 'em.”
Wait. Every giant corporation in the world - and every national government as well - is yielding to China’s pressure tactics in order to do business there, and you’re blaming Kenny G for doing the same thing?
Nuts. Blame everyone if you must, but remember that Kenny G will be somewhere around 86,439 on that list.
I think exactly the same of anyone who lives for the dollar first. He had a chance outside his awful records to show that he wasn’t willing to compromise something for a dollar, and blew it.
(ok, that was harsh, I redacted that last bit. )
It’s very easy for multimillionaires to put the prospect of even more wealth over ethics, isn’t it?
Maybe he was more worried about spending the night in a Chinese jail than losing some money.
I wasn’t looking for a big lofty statement here - I just thought it was worth a chuckle.
“You” plural. I’m looking at all the responses.
Ah, well. Internet altruists are the flip side of Internet tough guys.
Actually it makes a lot of sense for foreign celebrities to stay out of this one. China gets a lot of mileage out of the “rich foreigners love to pick the side against is even when they don’t understand the issues” and “the West just wants to see us fail” meme. And sometimes it’s even true.
There are plenty of Hong Kong celebrities that can lend their support. I don’t see how Kenny G would have a positive effect-- he would probably hurt the cause more than help.
It would have been smarter for him to make a bland “I believe in freedom for all, but I don’t know enough about this particular issue to take a stance. This wasn’t an intention display of support, though I hope the protesters are treated fairly and their voices heard.”
I don’t think he was really risking that. I’m pretty sure they’d just revoke his visa or the necessary permits would be canceled.
But then again, China’s a whole 'nother country. So they might have made him spend the night. It’d probably just be deportation to the U.S. after that.
In the end, he shouldn’t have tried to score points in Hong Kong if he wasn’t willing to stand by it.
Ok, I’ll stop before I say more nasty things about him.
Pretty much sums up how I have been thinking about it. I have NO problem with a celebrity, even a tool like Kenny G, sidestepping this issue. So many moving parts. But he could’ve framed his comments much more…neutrally?..than he did, per even sven’s example above.
Since he didn’t, it has led to a bit of derision that kinda fits with the derision he has gotten for decades - which is what was worth a chuckle to me…
Believe it or not, some “internet altruists” actually try to live by the ethics they espouse online. You (not “you” plural) are free to assume everyone is just puffing themselves up on message boards and don’t have any integrity, but that’s a pretty sad way to interact with people.
Ah, well. Above-it-all dismissive internet cynics are the flip side to credulous Facebookers posting unsubstantiated links.
Time to outlaw selfies, I think. Just as modern copiers and printers detect and refuse to print US money, smartphones should recognize their owner and black out his/her image.
Let’s also remember the number of unknown, faceless kids who come up with these new fangled social trends that only take off when a celebrity makes it public. Kenny G probably got nailed hard because of his celebrity status brings more international attention to the issue than faceless companies would ever do.