Glastonbury 2022: Kendrick Lamar protests against Roe v Wade Supreme Court ruling in crown of thorns

Kendrick Lamar closed Glastonbury 2022 with a headline set where he repeatedly chanted ‘Godspeed for women’s rights’ while wearing a crown of thorns containing 8,000 diamonds before storming off the Pyramid Stage over the US Supreme Court’s decision to overrule Roe v Wade and row back on statutory abortion rights.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning west coast rapper, 35, was one of a number of artists at the British music festival to protest at the decision in Washington on Friday, including Billie Eilish on Friday, Lily Allen and Olivia Rodrigo on Saturday and Lorde yesterday.

Lamar, a Christian, ensured his debut at the festival would be memorable with an array of hit songs from his back catalogue accompanied by finely choreographed dancers.

Before the theatrical end to the show, he introduced his new single Saviour saying that the song’s message is ‘imperfection is beautiful’ and that people should not lose sight of others’ humanity. He also said the song reflects his own thoughts on his faith, the BLM moment and Covid conspiracies.

As the lights came up it revealed fake blood was pouring down his face from a crown of thorns. Before playing the song, Lamar, who has previously been open about his Christian faith, said the crown of thorns represented Christ and his own flaws.

The crown which adorned his head was reportedly made by Tiffany and Co, and features 8000 diamonds, according to British Vogue.  His plea for female rights was in protest against the US Supreme Court’s recent decision to end the country’s constitutional right to abortion.

A number of musicians across the weekend used their Glastonbury platform to condemn the reversal of the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling including Lorde, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Idles and Phoebe Bridgers. There were also protests by Green Day at a gig in London and by Janelle Monáe at the BET Awards in Los Angeles last night.

The words ‘You Saviour I Am Not’ blazed on the screens behind him as he performed the track with fake blood continually pouring down his face and white shirt. As his dancers encircled him, fireworks erupted across the stage as he repeatedly chanted ‘they judge you, they judge Christ. Godspeed for women’s rights’ before leaving the stage.

Kendrick Lamar has fake blood pouring down his face while wearing a diamond encrusted crown of thorns as he protested about the attack on women’s rights in the US after the Supreme Court ruling on abortion

Lamar’s shirt became red as the show ended as he showed hos anger about the reversal of Roe vs Wade

He then threw away his microphone before he stormed off stage in protest at the decision in the United States

Kendrick Lamar performs at the Glastonbury Festival were he chanted ‘Godspeed for women’s rights’

Lamar bows his head as he begins his rendition of new song Saviour at the British music festival

Lorde also shouted, ‘F**k the Supreme Court ,’ as she kicked off her set on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday

Bold statement: Olivia Rodrigo, 19, brought special guest Lily Allen, 37, on stage during her Glastonbury performance on Saturday to sing Lily’s 2009 hit F**k You in response to the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade

Emotional: It comes after Billie Eilish admitted it’s been a ‘dark day for women’ following the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V Wade, as she took to the stage at the Glastonbury Festival on Friday

Furious: Green Day star Billie Joe Armstrong (pictured Friday at London Stadium in London) proclaimed ‘f**k America’ and claimed he was ‘renouncing his citizenship’ in wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn federal abortion protections

Waste left by festival goers waiting to be cleared at Worthy Farm in Somerset following the Glastonbury Festival

Volunteers clean up by the Pyramid stage after a dramatic final day of the festival

Revellers leave the site this morning after the first Glastonbury since the pandemic ended

Olivia Rodrigo brought special guest Lily Allen on stage during her Glastonbury performance on Saturday to sing Lily’s 2009 hit F**k You in response to the US Supreme Court‘s decision to overturn Roe v Wade.

American singer Olivia, 19, took to The Other Stage at Worthy Farm where she said she was ‘devastated and terrified’ by the ruling which ended the constitutional right to abortion in the US, meaning individual states could decide whether abortion can be made illegal.

Meanwhile, Green Day star Billie Joe Armstrong proclaimed ‘f**k America’ and claimed he was ‘renouncing his citizenship’ during a Friday night concert in London, saying: ‘There’s too much f***ing stupid in the world.’

Speech: Lorde also shouted, ‘F**k the Supreme Court,’ as she kicked off her set on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday, saying to a cheering crowd: ‘Welcome to sadness. The temperature is unbearable until you face it’ 

Olivia said: ‘I’m devastated and terrified [by the ruling] and so many women and girls are going to die because of this and I wanted to dedicate this next song to the five members of the Supreme Court who showed us at the end of the day they truly don’t give a s*** about freedom.’

After her words prompted huge applause from the audience, Olivia went on to address the Supreme Court justices individually, saying: ‘This song goes out to the justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh.’

Fellow pop star Lily, 37, was seen giving the middle finger as she stood on stage, before saying: ‘We hate you guys!’ as the pair launched into the expletive-filled song. 

Lorde also shouted, ‘F**k the Supreme Court,’ as she kicked off her set on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday, saying to a cheering crowd: ‘Welcome to sadness. The temperature is unbearable until you face it.

‘Wanna hear a secret girls? Your bodies were destined to be controlled and objectified since before you were born.

‘That horror is your birthright. But here’s another secret. You possess strength. That wisdom is also your birthright.

‘I ask you today to make exercising that wisdom your life’s work because everything depends on it. F*** the Supreme Court.’

The Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion that have been in place for nearly 50 years by deciding to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling and hand back power to individual states to decide whether or not to permit the procedure.  

The justices held that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that allowed abortions performed before a fetus would be viable outside the womb – between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy – was wrongly decided because the U.S. Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.

The ruling means that individual states now have the power to decide on whether to ban abortion. The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group, has said that 26 states are ‘certain or likely’ to ban abortion now.

The decision means that women with unwanted pregnancies in large swathes of America will now face the choice of traveling to another state where the procedure remains legal and available, buying abortion pills online or having a potentially dangerous illegal abortion.  

In an address at the White House, President Joe Biden said it was ‘a sad day for the court and the country’ and called the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade – and making terminations illegal for millions of American women – ‘wrong, extreme and out of touch’.

Accusing the court of ‘expressly taking away a constitution right that is so fundamental to so many Americans’, Biden vowed the fight over abortion rights ‘is not over’ and said his administration will do everything in its power to combat efforts to restrict women from travelling to other states to obtain abortions.

It comes after Billie Eilish admitted it was a ‘dark day for women’ following the US Supreme Court’s decision as she headlined the Pyramid Stage on Friday night.

Saddened: American singer Olivia took to The Other Stage at Worthy Farm where she said she was ‘devastated and terrified’ by the ruling which ended the constitutional right to abortion in the US

Background: The Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion that have been in place for nearly 50 years by overturning the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling and hand back power to individual states to decide whether to permit abortions

Pals: Olivia and Lily hugged on stage after their performance together

Devastating: The singer told the crowd she ‘couldn’t bear to think about’ the ruling which ended the constitutional right to abortion in the US, meaning individual states could decide whether abortion can be made illegal

Billie cursed the ‘old’ Supreme Court justices ‘who try to tell us what to do with our bodies’ after admitting she’d had a real [expletive] day upon learning of the ruling’.

Olivia wore a purple, black and gold mini skirt and a lavender and white bra top which left her midriff on show during her gig on Saturday.

Driver’s License hitmaker Olivia whipped the crowd into a frenzy as she leapt around the stage, wearing a pair of black fishnet stockings and some chunky-souled leather boots to go with her outfit. 

She wore a pair of of half-length detached sleeves in the same material as her skirt and wore lashings of make-up to highlight her pretty facial features.

Pop star Olivia’s top featured a plunging neckline and had wrap around ribbons of material which hung down to her front. 

Her garment featured keyhole detail at the front and she wore a glistening gold statement necklace. 

The star could be seen whipping her long brunette hair through the air and smiling as she performed with her band behind her on stage.

For some songs she sat and played the piano, while for others she perched on top of the instrument to sing to her fans.

Also performing at the festival was fellow singer Celeste, 28, who wore a chic white dress with matching gloves.

Her dress featured a low cut Bardot neckline and her naked upper arms and shoulders were left exposed to the air. 

She sported a funky spiked hairdo as she performed on the West Holts Stage at the festival.

The star wore lashings of dark eye make-up and wore a pair of large green hoop statement earrings. 

Meanwhile, Haim – sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim – put on an energetic display as they performed on the famous Pyramid Stage.

Lead vocalist Danielle, 33, wore a black bikini top and a pair of edgy leather trousers as she performed in the sun.

Her sister Alana put in an impressive effort as she played drums during the performance which drew huge crowds. 

Green Day star Billie Joe Armstrong proclaimed ‘f**k America’ and claimed he was ‘renouncing his citizenship’ in wake of the Supreme Court‘s decision to overturn federal abortion protections.

Armstrong, 50, made the declaration during a Friday night concert in London, telling the audience: ‘There’s too much f***ing stupid in the world.’

He also told the crowd he was going to move to the UK, a statement that was met with roaring applause.

Armstrong’s remarks came as protests erupted across the U.S. after the conservative-majority high court voted to overturn the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade, which held that abortion fell under the constitutional right to privacy.

The American Idiot hitmaker has repeatedly used his musical platform to protest politicians and alleged injustices. 

At a show earlier this month, he performed in front of a backdrop that read ‘f**k Ted Cruz’ in an effort to take aim at the GOP senator from Texas. He previously called out former President Donald Trump for ‘holding half the country hostage’ and devoted an entire album to criticizing former President George W. Bush and the Iraq War. 

**WARNING: VIDEO FOOTAGE CONTAINS PROFANITY** 

Strong views: Armstrong made the declaration during a Friday night concert in London (pictured), telling the audience: ‘There’s too much f***ing stupid in the world’

Armstrong, who has backed President Joe Biden, also reportedly filed paperwork last year to run as a Republican in the 2024 presidential election.

‘F**k America. I’m f***ing renouncing my citizenship. I’m f**king coming here,’ Armstrong told the London Stadium crowd Friday night.

‘There’s just too much f***ing stupid in the world to go back to that miserable f***ing excuse for a country.’

He added: ‘Oh, I’m not kidding, you’re going to get a lot of me in the coming days.’  

The musician’s political outcry continued Saturday night at his show in Huddersfield, England.

Concertgoers claim he told the crowd ‘f**k the Supreme Court of America’ before playing American Idiot, which the band has previously said was written out of anger about not being represented by national leadership. 

He also alleged called the justices ‘pr**ks’ during his performance of Hitchin’ a Ride.

Armstrong’s anti-American proclamation was met with an outpour of support on social media.

‘I will help u pack just tell me when,’ one TikTok user wrote.

‘If @billiejoe was serious when he said, ‘F**k America. F**k the American Supreme Courts. I’m moving to England,’ he’d never have to buy another beer… ever,’ a Twitter user echoed. ‘The North of England awaits you sir.’

‘Billie Joe Armstrong doesn’t wanna be an American idiot,’ added another. 

One concertgoer noted: ‘Green Day opened with America Idiot which is expected but the lyrics seem oddly fitting again.’ 

‘Billie Joe Armstrong was in London when Trump was elected, a man he openly hates. Now he’s in London and Roe falls?’ another stated. ‘Back to the States, Armstrong. It’s clear the Supreme Court & gov. are afraid of u. Cmon, come home.’

‘Don’t tease us like the rest of the liberal idiots. Do it!’ one person wrote.

The rockstar was also met with skepticism by some residents who alleged things weren’t much better in the UK.

‘If ‘here’ is the U.K. I wouldn’t bother, out of the frying pan and into the fire!’ one wrote.

‘Wait til someone tells him about Boris,’ another joked, referring to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Another added: ‘ILY Billy but you don’t want to be here.’ 

Praise: Armstrong’s anti-American proclamation was met with an outpour of support on social media

Armstrong’s remarks came as chaos-filled protests erupted across the U.S. Thousands of spirited demonstrators took to the streets Friday and Saturday in cities nationwide to protest the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

The landmark 1973 decision was overturned Friday after SCOTUS, in a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative majority, upheld a Republican-backed Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. 

The vote was 5-4 to overturn Roe, with conservative Chief Justice John Roberts writing separately to say he would have upheld the Mississippi law without taking the additional step of erasing the Roe precedent altogether.

The ruling restored the ability of states to ban abortion. Twenty-six states are either certain or considered likely to ban abortion. 

Abortion became illegal in 13 U.S. states as soon as Roe was overturned, thanks to specially-devised ‘trigger laws’ designed to automatically outlaw terminations in the event of a ruling to overturn Roe.

Five other states banned terminations after historic laws superseded by the 1973 Roe ruling automatically came back into place on Friday.

The ruling, which many Democrats claim leaves American women with ‘fewer rights than their grandmothers,’ prompted outcry across the nation.

Abortion was automatically outlawed in 18 US states as soon as Roe v. Wade was overturned, thanks to specially-devised ‘trigger laws’ and historic bans that were automatically reenacted after Friday’s ruling

Protesters march through downtown Chicago on Saturday in response to the US Supreme Court overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling

People march through Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia during a protest against the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization on Saturday

Abortion rights activists protest in Portland, Oregon on Friday after the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade

Pro-choice activists were tear gassed in clashes at Arizona Capitol building and dozens were arrested in New York City and Los Angeles. 

The Arizona Capitol building was besieged by pro-abortion protesters Friday night, forcing riot cops to fire tear gas to disperse the angry crowd in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned. 

Hundreds of angry protesters assembled outside the Supreme Court building in D.C. Friday just moments after SCOTUS ruled to overturn Roe. 

A concerned father also scaled the city’s Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and sat atop one of it’s 70-foot arches after having ‘a very, very, very strong emotional reaction’ to the ruling. 

The bridge was shutdown for nearly 28 hours before the protester descended from the arch Saturday afternoon and was arrested.

Meantime, women are threatening not to have sex with men and have taken to social media to call on all American females to participate in ‘sex strikes.’

As of Sunday, most of the Roe protests had remained peaceful apart from a pickup truck that drove through a group of demonstrators in Cedar Rapids, running over a woman’s foot. And in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday night, a group of protesters smashed windows and vandalized several buildings. 

Tear gas coming from officers firing out of the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix on Friday is visible as pro choice protesters march outside

A protester lights a cigarette on a burning American Flag while marching with abortion-rights activists in DC on Friday

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Capitol Police dressed in riot gear stand outside the Capitol on Friday evening as protests erupted 

Washington Square Park, in lower Manhattan, was packed with protesters on Friday evening. At least 25 people were arrested after demonstrations across NYC on Friday

Similar arrests were made in Los Angeles, where police reported protesters throwing bottles of water and rocks at officers during demonstrations on Friday

A pro-abortion protester who shut down the Frederick Douglas Memorial Bridge in Washington D.C. after scaling one of its huge 70-foot arches without a safety harness on Friday morning. The bridge was shutdown for nearly 28 hours

Roe v. Wade: The landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in America

Norma McCorvey, seen in 1983 – ten years after the Supreme Court decision 

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion in Roe v. Wade. The landmark ruling legalized abortion nationwide but divided public opinion and has been under attack ever since.

The case was filed in 1971 by Norma McCorvey, a 22-year-old living in Texas who was unmarried and seeking a termination of her unwanted pregnancy.

Because of state legislation preventing abortions unless the mother’s life is at risk, she was unable to undergo the procedure in a safe and legal environment.

So McCorvey sued Henry Wade, the Dallas county district attorney, in 1970. The case went on to the Supreme Court, under the filing Roe vs Wade, to protect McCorvey’s privacy.

Supreme Court Decision

The Supreme Court handed down the watershed 7-2 decision that a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions, including the choice to have an abortion, is protected under the 14th Amendment.

In particular, that the Due Process Clause of the the 14th Amendment provides a fundamental ‘right to privacy’ that protects a woman’s liberty to choose whether or not to have an abortion.

The landmark ruling saw abortions decriminalized in 46 states, but under certain specific conditions which individual states could decide on. For example, states could decide whether abortions were allowed only during the first and second trimester but not the third (typically beyond 28 weeks).

Impact

Among pro-choice campaigners, the decision was hailed as a victory which would mean fewer women would become seriously – or even fatally – ill from abortions carried out by unqualified or unlicensed practitioners. Moreover, the freedom of choice was considered a significant step in the equality fight for women in the country. Victims of rape or incest would be able to have the pregnancy terminated and not feel coerced into motherhood.

McCorvey became a born again Christian in 1995 and started advocating against abortion. Shown above in 1998, she died in 2017 

However, pro-lifers contended it was tantamount to murder and that every life, no matter how it was conceived, is precious. Though the decision has never been overturned, anti-abortionists have prompted hundreds of states laws since then narrowing the scope of the ruling.

One such was the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act signed by President George W. Bush in 2003, which banned a procedure used to perform second-trimester abortions.

Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe)

Following the ruling, McCorvey lived a quiet life until the 1980s when she revealed herself to be Jane Roe. 

McCorvey became a leading, outspoken pro-abortion voice in American discourse, even working at a women’s clinic where abortions were performed.

However, she performed an unlikely U-turn in 1995, becoming a born again Christian and began traveling the country speaking out against the procedure.

In 2003, a she filed a motion to overturn her original 1973 ruling with the U.S. district court in Dallas. 

The motion moved through the courts until it was ultimately denied by the Supreme Court in 2005.

McCorvey died at an assisted living home in Texas in February 2017, aged 69.

Shelley Lynn Thornton (Baby Roe) 

Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe)  gave birth to Shelley Lynn Thornton in Dallas in 1970 – a year before the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade case was filed. Shelley was the single mother’s third pregnancy. She gave her up for adoption the day after giving birth, then continued fighting for the right to abortion afterwards. 

Shelley’s identity became public last year. She waived her right to anonymity, speaking out in multiple interviews about the landmark case. 

She says that Norma used her for ‘publicity’, only trying to make contact with her when she was a teenager and for the wrong reasons. 

‘It became apparent to me really quickly that the only reason why she wanted to reach out to me and find me was because she wanted to use me for publicity. She didn’t deserve to meet me. She never did anything in her life to get that privilege back.

Baby Roe: Shelley Lynn Thornton, a 51-year-old mother of three, has spoken out for the first time on camera. Her biological mother Norma McCorvey was Jane Roe, whose landmark lawsuit Roe vs Wade won women across America the right to have abortions

‘She never expressed genuine feeling for me or genuine remorse for doing the things that she did, saying the things that she did over and over and over again,’ Shelley said last year.

Shelley has refused to say whether or not she agrees with abortion, for fear of weaponized by either side of the debate. 

‘A lot of people didn’t know I existed. It doesn’t revolve around me, I wasn’t the one who created this law. I’m not the one who created this movement. I had nothing to do with it. I was just a little itty-bitty thing and, you know, circumstances prevailed.

‘My whole thinking is that, ‘oh God everybody is going to hate me because everyone is going to blame me for abortion being legal.’

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