(Robert Jonathan, Headline USA) A cosmetics company rebuked Allice Cooper after the rock icon dissented from the transgender narrative.
In cancelling an already underway co-branded product collection, Vampyre Cosmetics announced on Instagram that “In light of recent statements by Alice Cooper we will no longer be doing a makeup collaboration. We stand with all members of the LGBTQIA+ community and believe everyone should have access to healthcare. All pre-order sales will be refunded.”
The still-touring Cooper, 75, is well known for theatrics while performing on stage, including wearing over-the-top makeup and heavy eyeliner.
What apparently got Vampyre’s blood boiling was an interview Cooper gave to the music news website Stereogum.
During that interview, the musician asserted, among other things, that “I’m understanding that there are cases of transgender, but I’m afraid that it’s also a fad, and I’m afraid there’s a lot of people claiming to be this just because they want to be that.”
Cooper (Vincent Damon Furnier) went to say that “I find it wrong when you’ve got a six-year-old kid who has no idea. He just wants to play, and you’re confusing him telling him, ‘Yeah, you’re a boy, but you could be a girl if you want to be.’ I think that’s so confusing to a kid. It’s even confusing to a teenager.”
He characterized what’s been going in the context of gender ideology as “so absurd.”
Alice Cooper has been canceled for the high crime of saying children can’t make lifelong permanent decisions that leave them sterilized and with missing body parts.
We commend his courage for speaking the truth knowing the backlash he would receive! It’s just common sense. We… pic.twitter.com/oJF60fQUyY
— Gays Against Groomers (@againstgrmrs) August 28, 2023
The rock star, who is purportedly a born-again Christian, also wondered if there is a woke cabal somewhere in New York City that determines what can and can’t be said.
“Who is this person that’s making these rules? I don’t get it. I’m not being old school about it. I’m being logical about it.”
He insisted, too, that he has never met anyone that actually goes along with wokeism.
Implying that a gender transition later in life is a separate matter, Cooper explained that “I look at it this way, the logical way: If you have these genitals, you’re a boy. If you have those genitals, you’re a girl…But you’re not a male born a female…”
In another controversial statement in the conversation with Stereogum, Cooper asserted that a man using a woman’s bathroom is “taking advantage of that situation” and that “somebody’s going to get raped.”
In a somewhat related development, guitar legend Carlos Santana recently apologized in a statement posted to Facebook for mentioning during a concert that “a woman is a woman and a man is a man.”
It remains to be seen if Cooper will clarify or walk back his remarks, which tends to be a frequent outcome in similar dustups.
A few other vintage rock stars have gotten into hot water for commentary of this kind.
History has shown that, in general, conservatives should first wait a day or a week instead of rushing to embrace “logical” comments made by a celebrity.
That aside, Cooper and Santana are obviously so far along in their careers that they can engage in what amounts to heresy by today’s standards and depart from the identity politics agenda that has gained currency in the culture, at least in far-left precincts that include corporate America.
The scenario is a lot different for those whose careers are still on the ascendancy in the entertainment industry or who are trying to get established in that space.
Recall that the late Andrew Breitbart famously opined that politics is downstream from culture.
