Singer and folk music icon Joni Mitchell took a vulgar swipe at former President Donald Trump at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles this weekend.
Mitchell commanded the crowd of roughly 17,000 fans at the Hollywood bowl on Saturday for two “Joni Jam” concerts that Billboard described as “an intimate, inviting look” into the 80-year-old singer/songwriter’s life.
While the show marked a triumphant return for the singer who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015, rendering her unable to speak or walk for a time and forcing to relearn her own music, a moment in the show took a turn for the political and the divisive when she uttered the words “fuck Trump.” Per Billboard:
When a member of the crowd shouted out a Trump diss, Mitchell chuckled and took a moment to give her piece. ‘Fuck Donald Trump’ – I love that song,’ Mitchell said, unexpectedly referencing YG’s 2016 hip-hop banger ‘FDT.’ It didn’t come out of nowhere – Mitchell had just sung ‘Dog Eat Dog,’ a track about powerful people who ‘lie, cheat, skim, scam,’ and after the lyric about ‘big-wig financiers,’ Mitchell tossed out the aside, ‘Like Donald Trump.’ She went in deeper after the song wrapped, putting in her two cents on the Republican presidential candidate.
The Canadian exclaimed “Fuck Donald Trump” before telling people to get out and vote.
“Everybody get out and vote. This is an important one. I wish I could vote – I’m Canadian. I’m one of those lousy immigrants,” she said, which then prompted most people in the crowd to stand up and applaud.
Joni Mitchell jumped into the political realm in 2022 when she joined the protest against Spotify for hosting Joe Rogan’s podcast due to his questioning of the establishment media’s narratives on the coronavirus pandemic, namely, the efficacy of the vaccine.
“Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,” Mitchell said on her website. “I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”
