‘Prove it’: Pink defends tour amid ‘pornographic’ backlash

Grammy winner Pink has come under fire for giving away books on tour that have been pulled from primary schools for ‘age-inappropriate’ content. Warning: Graphic

Grammy-winning megastar Pink is defending the distribution of books on tour that were pulled from primary school classrooms due to age-inappropriate content.

The You Make Me Sick singer, who will return to Australia in February and March next year, lit a firestorm in the US after announcing she would distribute 2000 free books this week in Florida, where governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis signed a law prohibiting curriculum that uses sexually explicit content for children from kindergarten to the third grade.

After coming under fire for partnering with advocacy group PEN America, which is pushing for the teaching of graphically explicit picture books such as Gender Queer, Let’s Talk about It, and Flamer, to primary-school-aged children, Pink slammed the “MAGA cult” for getting their “panties in quite a bunch”.

“I talk about reading. Books. Classics. Not porn. Porn isn’t my thing. Supporting freedom of speech is. Allowing hateful, narrow minded bigots to decide what all children can read is not my thing either. FREEDOM! MERICA!” she wrote on X.

Pink was hit with a “Community Note” for spreading misinformation on what books were prohibited from Florida schools, with some on the state’s required reading list like “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Catcher in the Rye”.

PEN America has been fighting Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” in court with legal challenges to the HB 1557 legislation, which prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through to the third grade.

The four titles on PEN America’s “Index of Banned Books” that Pink has vowed to distribute include The Family Book by Todd Parr, Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb, Beloved by Toni Morrison and a book from Girls Who Code which was founded by Reshma Saujani.

Pink was embroiled in a multi-day flame war when her X feed was inundated with critics accusing the 44-year-old star of “pledging to give kids pornographic books in Florida”.

Periodic reminder that when they accuse us of “banning books” they’re referring to p0rnographic books which are offered to kids in schools across the country. For some reason they never provide visuals…

Now Pink is pledging to give kids p0rnographic books in Florida. Why would… pic.twitter.com/H2Nq0LEMGm

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 13, 2023

“Periodic reminder that when they accuse us of ‘banning books’ they’re referring to p0rnographic books which are offered to kids in schools across the country. For some reason they never provide visuals …” wrote political commentator Chaya Raichik on her popular LibsOfTikTok handle.

“Why would a singer want kids reading p0rn?”

In response, Pink called on her critics to “prove it”.

“Show me the pornographic book,” she said on the thread, which included images of books on PEN America’s list, but not from the four books Pink distributed in Miami this week.

The most graphic titles on the list like Gender Queer, Flamer, and Let’s Talk About It include cartoon portrayals of oral sex, masturbation and various sexual positions that must be blurred in most public depictions.

You all really need to get some new talking points. This one is pretty played out. You’re 100% sure I PROBABLY can’t read? https://t.co/MdT2T7wEpf

— P!nk (@Pink) November 13, 2023

In an Instagram post announcing her plan, Pink said she’s a mum of two kids who are voracious readers.

“And I can’t imagine my own parents telling me what my kids can and cannot read, let alone someone else’s parents, let alone someone else that doesn’t even have children that are deciding what my children can read,” she said, adding the book giveaway was to raise awareness about Florida’s legislation.

“Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child, and that’s why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools,” Pink said in a follow-up statement.

US singer Pink performs on the stage of the Paris-La Defense Arena during a concert as part of her 'Beautiful Trauma World Tour 2019'. Picture: AFP

“It’s especially hateful to see authorities take aim at books about race and racism and against LGBTQ authors and those of colour,” she said.

“We have made so many strides toward equality in this country and no one should want to see this progress reversed.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has dismissed claims of “book bans”, saying in a statement that the “hoax” exposed an attempt to use public schools for indoctrination into the far-left ideology of the Democratic Party.

“In Florida, pornographic and inappropriate materials that have been snuck into our classrooms and libraries to sexualise our students violate our state education standards,” he said.

“Florida is the education state and that means providing students with a quality education free from sexualisation and harmful materials that are not age appropriate.”