Daily Mail, Violence Breaks Out as Protesters Seek to Shame Bono Over Failure to Pay Tax in Ireland as He Headlines Glastonbury:
Violent scenes broke out in the crowd at U2’s long-awaited Glastonbury debut last night as a protest against the Irish band’s tax status was foiled by security guards.
As Bono and his bandmates took to the Pyramid Stage, activists from direct action group Art Uncut inflated a 20ft balloon emblazoned with the message ‘U Pay Your Tax 2’.
But as the campaigners tried to release the balloon over the 50,000-strong crowd, a team of ten security guards wrestled them to the ground before deflating the balloon and taking it away. …
Art Uncut had been hoping to spark debate around big-earning stars’ duty to pay taxes in their native country. Campaigner Charlie Dewar said: “U2’s multi million-euro tax dodge is depriving the Irish people at a time when they desperately need income to offset the Irish government’s savage austerity programme. … Bono is well-known for his anti-poverty campaigning but Art Uncut is accusing him of hypocrisy.”
(Hat Tip: Eric Robinson.) Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- U2 & Bono Bail Out to Avoid Irish Tax (Part 1) (Aug. 8, 2006)
- U2 & Bono Bail Out to Avoid Irish Tax (Part 2) (Oct. 17, 2006)
- Bono, Tax Avoider; The Hypocrisy of U2 (Nov. 2, 2006)
- Netherlands Is Latest Tax Shelter Hot Spot (Feb. 16, 2007)
- Bono “Hurt” by Criticism of His Move From Ireland to Avoid Tax on Royalties (Feb. 27, 2009)
- More on Bono’s Tax Hypocrisy (Apr. 27, 2009)
- Activists to Protest Bono’s ‘Tax Hypocrisy’ (June 6, 2011)
