Bjarki Fires Label Partner Following Transphobic Comments

Reykjavik producer Bjarki fired his label partner at bbbbbb Records last night, Johnny Chrome Silver, after he made transphobic comments from the imprint's Instagram account. Silver commented on a video posted by Resident Advisor of a performance by Brooklyn producer Octo Octa, and said, "Better to make it as a DJ to be a she than a he. She-man!" The comment has since been deleted.

Bjarki apologized for the incident on behalf of the label in a Facebook post. "[Johnny Chrome Silver] has now been removed from the label and relieved of his duties, including social media." He also said that the label is rescheduling its current United States tour.

Octo Octa took to Twitter on Monday to address transphobic comments being made on the video, although she did not mention bbbbbb specifically. THUMP reached out to her and her PR representative but they declined to comment.

Bjarki, who has also released material through Nina Kraviz's трип label, was supposed to play at Brooklyn's House of Yes venue tomorrow night, July 20, but the multimedia space has now cancelled the performance. "We're not okay with transphobic behavior of any kind," said representatives from House of Yes on Twitter. "We stand [with] our trans sisters forever," they later added. "If you don't, our house isn't for you."

A representative for Seattle's Decibel Festival also took to Twitter to address the incident. "The Bjarki show has been cancelled, unanimously," they said, presumably referring to his upcoming July 27 performance at the Kremwerk events space co-presented by Decibel. "Absolutely zero tolerance for any transphobic behavior of any kind." THUMP has reached out to Decibel Festival directly for confirmation of the cancellation and comment.

Johnny Chrome Silver, who is Bjarki's childhood friend, released a statement about the incident on Facebook yesterday in which he said he took full responsibility for the comment. "I feel so bad regarding the stupid comment I made on bbbbbb label's Instagram," he said.

THUMP has reached out to Bjarki, bbbbbb, and Johnny Chrome Silver for comment.

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