SINGAPORE: American pop stars Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande were on an “offensive lyrics” list presented to members of parliament in socially-conservative Singapore as part of a statement by the city-state’s home minister on hate speech.
Monday’s statement came nearly a month after Swedish death metal group Watain’s concert was banned in Singapore on concerns about the band’s history of “denigrating religions and promoting violence.”
Singapore keeps a tight rein on public speech and the media, especially when it comes to race and religion matters.
A photo of the ministerial statement on “restricting hate speech” was posted on Facebook by opposition MP Chen Show Mao late on Monday with the caption “lesson of the day.” The post had been shared over 1,000 times and received hundreds of comments by Tuesday afternoon.
The list cited Lady’s Gaga’s ‘Judas’ and Ariana Grande’s ‘God is a woman’, alongside songs ‘Heresy’ by Nine Inch Nails and ‘Take me to the Church’ by Hozier, as “illustrations of offensive lyrics.”
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande have both held concerts in Singapore previously and the list did not suggest any of these artists would be banned from performing again.
Singapore’s home ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The statement came on a day Singapore submitted wide-ranging fake news legislation in parliament, stoking fears from Internet firms and human rights groups that it may give the government too much power and hinder freedom of speech.
Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande on Singapore parliament ‘offensive’ playlist
Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande on Singapore parliament ‘offensive’ playlist
- Singapore keeps a tight rein on public speech and the media, especially when it comes to race and religion matters
- Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande have both held concerts in Singapore previously and the list did not suggest any of these artists would be banned from performing again
Vince Zampella, video game pioneer behind ‘Call of Duty,’ dies at 55
Vince Zampella, one of the creators behind such best-selling video games as “Call of Duty,” has died. He was 55.
Video game company Electronic Arts said Zampella died Sunday. The company did not disclose a cause of death.
In 2010, Zampella founded Respawn Entertainment, a subsidiary of EA, and he also was the former chief executive of video game developer Infinity Ward, the studio behind the successful “Call of Duty” franchise.
A spokesperson for Electronic Arts said in a statement on Monday that Zampella’s influence on the video game industry was “profound and far-reaching.”
“A friend, colleague, leader and visionary creator, his work helped shape modern interactive entertainment and inspired millions of players and developers around the world. His legacy will continue to shape how games are made and how players connect for generations to come,” a company spokesperson wrote.
One of Zampella’s crowning achievements was the creation of the Call of Duty franchise, which has sold more than half a billion games worldwide,
The first person shooter game debuted in 2003 as a World War II simulation and has sold over 500 million copies globally. Subsequent versions have delved into modern warfare and there is a live-action movie based on the game in production with Paramount Pictures.
In recent years, Zampella has been at the helm of the creation of the action adventure video games Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
