SeaWorld (via Wikimedia Commons; see full credit below)
Following a recent wave of SeaWorld concert cancellations by The Barenaked Ladies, Willie Nelson and Heart, rocker Joan Jett sent a ‘cease and desist’ letter on Monday to the theme park’s president, requesting that SeaWorld stop using her 1981 hit song, “I Love Rock and Roll” in its “Shamu Rocks” killer whale performances.
According to reports by the Associated Press, this outcry among musicians was prompted by the controversial 2013 documentary Blackfish about a killer whale, Tilikum, involved in the deaths of three people–including whale trainers–while in captivity at SeaWorld.
In 2012, SeaWorld was cited with two violations for the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau—one of the incidents discussed in the film. The company was fined $12,000 by OSHA administrative judge Ken Welsch. (Read the decision here.)
Although the park has obtained licensing to play “I Love Rock and Roll,” SeaWorld has reported an intent to comply with Jett’s request to have the song removed. The company told the AP that it had pulled the song and was in the process of redesigning the show with no plans to include any Joan Jett music.
Also in its company statement to the AP, SeaWorld spokesperson Nick Gollattscheck said: “The bands and artists have a standing invitation to visit any of our parks to see firsthand or to speak to any of our animal experts to learn for themselves how we care for animals and how little truth there is to the allegations made by animal extremist groups opposed to the zoological display of marine mammals.”
It appears SeaWorld does, (ahem), “give a damn about [its] reputation.”
Photo credit: By Tristanb (talk). (Photograph taken by Tristanb November 2004.) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
