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President Donald Trump is holding a fundraiser event in Newport Beach, California today that’s being headlined by Mike Love’s current touring lineup of the Beach Boys, the Los Angeles Times reports. Brian Wilson and Al Jardine, who are unaffiliated with Love’s touring version of the band, shared a statement with Variety distancing themselves from the event.
“We have absolutely nothing to do with the Trump benefit today in Newport Beach. Zero,” Wilson and Jardine wrote. “We didn’t even know about it and were very surprised to read about it in the Los Angeles Times.”
This is not the first time this year that Wilson has distanced himself from an event played by Love’s version of the Beach Boys. When the touring group performed at Reno, Nevada’s Safari Club International Convention. “This organization supports trophy hunting, which both [bandmate Al Jardine] and I are emphatically opposed to,” Wilson wrote. “We look forward to a night of great music in Reno and, as always, support freedom of thought and expression as a fundamental tenet of our rights as Americans,” Mike Love responded.
Wilson and Jardine have not been members of the Beach Boys since their 50th anniversary tour in 2012. In the years since, Love has continued taking his lineup of the Beach Boys on tour. Love spoke at the White House during the signing ceremony as the Music Modernization Act was passed. Kid Rock, the Doobie Brothers’ Jeff Baxter, and Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave fame) were also present, and Kanye West visited the White House the same day.
Read “The People vs. Mike Love” on the Pitch.