‘Pathetic left’: Angry Anderson fires up over musician’s Trump MAGA cap industry backlash

Rose Tattoo frontman Angry Anderson has lashed “the pathetic left” for its savage “woke” reaction to Melbourne singer Hayley Mary’s pro-Trump cap, saying it “does not have the right to counsel or cancel”.

Australian rock legend Angry Anderson has blasted woke warriors for cancelling Melbourne singer-songwriter Hayley Mary for wearing a MAGA cap.

The outspoken Rose Tattoo frontman said: “The pathetic left does not have the right to counsel, or cancel, Hayley Mary. In fact, I don’t know how they get away with this s**t.

“She is an artist, and artists have the right, within the realms of decency, to free speech. Artists are also free to wear what they want. It’s called freedom.”

Angry Anderson. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Mary, who is the lead singer of the ARIA Award-winning band The Jezabels, has defended her right to freedom of speech and says she has voluntarily left the “woke music industry” after copping backlash for wearing a MAGA cap.

Mary wore the red pro-Trump baseball cap in a social media post to draw attention to an Instagram post protesting the federal government’s proposed Misinformation Bill which opponents say could threaten free speech.

She said: “The MAGA hat was for shock value.”

Musician Hayley Mary wearing the MAGA cap. Picture: Instagram

While the majority of Americans voted for Donald Trump in last week’s US election, Mary’s MAGA moment sparked industry outrage, a cancelled show in Melbourne, and key people left her team.

“The fallout was everything you could imagine,” Mary said. “I probably no longer have a music career in the way that I knew it.”

However, Anderson said Mary was better off without those who abandoned her.

“Do woke people do these things simultaneously, or do they get together and decide, ‘Yep, we’re gonna stab this kid in the back.’ She’s an artist, for f**k sake,” Anderson said.

“They have the audacity — the arrogance — to say, ‘What you’ve done is unacceptable.’ But what about her artistic integrity? If they had any substance, these apologetic morons would be defending her.”

Rose Tattoo frontman and Australian rock icon Angry Anderson is furious over the pro-Trump cap backlash.

“It makes me absolutely furious,” Anderson said. “It’s not anyone’s job to judge the morality of what she says or does. The left think they’ve cornered the market on morality. They think conservative thinkers lack compassion. But what happened to the common bond of humanity?

“I support Hayley Mary, and I support her right to express herself as an artist. But she’s found out the hard way about freedom of expression.”

After her Insta-post, Mary’s publicist resigned and a music venue scrapped a show to promote her solo album.

Mary knew the MAGA hat might be triggering, but added: “I know the MAGA movement is different things to different people, but (it also represents) the president of the free world and 73 million people voted for him.”

She said her Jezabels bandmates would not be surprised or shocked by her post, adding: “I did invite them to distance themselves publicly, if they need to.”

Meanwhile, Mary said she had received a lot of support for her stance. “I really appreciate it the people who have reached out.”

Rose Tattoo’s hits include Bad Boy For Love and Rock And Roll Outlaw.

On Tuesday Hayley Mary revealed a hometown show had been cancelled and she had lost key people in her team.

Musician Hayley Mary in her MAGA cap. Picture: Instagram

“The fallout was everything you could imagine. I probably no longer have a music career in the way that I knew it,” she said.

“I’ve lost some friends, though I hope that’s temporary. I’ve lost some of the infrastructure of my business; publicity, band members, crew members, a show, my album launch, some revenue and quite a few followers.”

Her music hasn’t been black-listed by ABC youth broadcaster Triple J — yet.

“I would guess they may feel like they need to not support me,” Hayley said. “But I would ask that they read my post first.”

Several high profile musicians blasted her post as a “s – t take” “absolutely unhinged” and a “privileged cis white woman is standing up for privileged cis white men.”

But Hayley said: “I was aware of what would happen. But I think the (Misinformation) Bill is dangerous enough to risk my career over.”

Hayley said the MAGA hat post was also a symbolic way to “announce the voluntary end of my career in the woke music industry.” She added: “I think the arts should be a place of freedom of speech. They should care about expression.”

Hayley Mary’s publicist resigned and a music venue scrapped a show to promote her solo album after she wore the cap. Picture: Mark Stewart

Hayley said her harshest critics were the “usual suspects” who “have spent their lives trying to bully people out of careers. The irony is, I’ve … cancelled myself. There’s nothing for you to do here.”

She said her Jezabels bandmates would not be surprised or shocked by her post, adding: “I did invite them to distance themselves publicly, if they need to.”

Asked what she thinks of the US president-elect Donald Trump, Hayley said: “I think he is a businessman (who), to a lot of people, was the better candidate for getting America (back) on track.”

Behind the scenes, and away from the comments section, Hayley said she’s received a lot of support. “I feel a lot of weight off my shoulders. People talk about glass ceilings all the time, but there’s a glass ceiling in wokeness that people can’t break out of. It feels good to come out of it.”