Ariel Pink goes on Tucker Carlson, says he is “destitute and on the street”

Last week, images and video surfaced of Ariel Pink and John Maus at the Washington, D.C. Trump rally that eventually turned into an insurrectionist storming of the Capitol building. The fallout from the incident has been swift, with Pink’s label Mexican Summer, who signed him in 2017 for his pom pom follow-up Dedicated To Bobby Jameson, dropping him, and many of Pink’s contemporaries disavowing his actions. Over social media, Pink confirmed that he had been at the rally to “peacefully show support for the president.”

Earlier this evening, Pink appeared on FOX News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, apparently to clarify his position and express disappointment at his being dropped by Mexican Summer. Pink appeared vaguely distraught during the interview, stating that he did not participate in the Capitol insurrection, but that he feels he cannot express his own counternarrative to that which is being shared; when asked by Carlson what it means that he is a “recording artist who can’t record,” he says that his lack of touring income means that he is “destitute and on the street.” Complaining about his treatment from fans and the press, Pink tells Carlson: "People are so mean." Elsewhere in the interview, he notes that Mexican Summer initially contacted him in the wake of the Trump rally to assure him that he would not be dropped from the label. Watch clips from Pink’s appearance above.

Earlier today, Pitchfork reported that Pink has been accused of abuse by his ex-girlfriend Charlotte Ercoli Coe. The allegations surfaced last week, after Pink was denied a civil harassment restraining order against Coe. In the suit, filed August 2020, Pink claimed that Coe was harassing him by “falsely claiming that [Pink] was a sexual ‘predator’ and […] that he committed sexual offences almost three years ago.” In addition, Pink’s suit claimed that Coe attempted to have him dropped from Mexican Summer over her abuse allegations. A few months after Pink filed his initial lawsuit, Coe, in turn, stated that Pink’s lawsuit was a frivolous one designed to intimidate her out of going public with her allegations of abuse that would be in violation of California’s “anti-SLAPP” statute. She alleged that Pink “physically attacked” her during a controversial October 2017 show that was widely reported on at the time, and that he “physically and mentally abused” her over the course of their relationship. In addition, she alleged that Pink forced her into unprotected sex that gave her herpes, and shared naked photos of her to his fans without her consent. Coe’s allegations are disturbing and numerous, and can be read in full at Pitchfork.