THE LEADUP: MAY 25 - JUNE 5
May 25-27: George Floyd, a Black man, is murdered by a white police officer. For a few days, HANSON posts normal content on social media and receive ordinary fan comments.
May 28: Protests against police brutality are happening across America. HANSON shares a post about the rocket launch. The post receives many comments from fans pointing out that as a band who has constantly cited Black artists as influences, it is concerning that they choose to post about the rocket but have been silent about the black lives matter movement. Black and POC fans in particular begin expressing hurt and frustration.
Many of these comments are still available on the Instagram post.
May 31: After a few more days of silence,
HANSON posts announcing a livestream with an organization that provides mental health services to musicians. Many more comments come in pointing out that while it's great they are supporting mental health, why are they still silent on Black lives matter?
At this point, a divide is forming in the fan community between those calling the band in, and those claiming the band is being 'attacked.' For what it's worth, almost all the comments and almost none were attacks: they were pleas for the guys to do the right thing. That evening,
TAYLOR posts about George Floyd on his personal Instagram.
June 2: Blackout Tuesday happens. The main Hanson account remains silent.
TAYLOR shares a black square on his Instagram, receiving mostly supportive comments but a few people asking him to do more, like at least say the words "Black lives matter."
June 3: ISAAC posts on Instagram stating 'Racism is Wrong!' This is met with mixed reactions from fans. Some felt that while the topics were important and the acknowledgment was appreciated, it was not enough, especially for BIPOC fans point-blank asking them to proudly state Black Lives Matter.
June 4: ZAC posts about recording an HTP podcast but still does not address BLM.
ZAC replied to a few comments; most notably, a 'statement' about why he hasn't said Black lives matter. He also replied directly to a Black fan. Things got hectic and he deleted all comments. These screenshots are widely available but we will be adding them soon.
This was when things began to escalate: the main Hanson account was still silent, refusing to say black lives matter, and now we had
Zac silencing black fans by deleting all comments on his post. The latest post on the Hanson page was still the one about the livestream, and it continued to receive comments from both supportive and frustrated fans. Fans began fighting with each other in the comments, and
at least one black fan outright said she felt gaslit by the white fans.
June 5(?): Earlier in the day, the main band account shares a video advertising BTTI. Another round of hurt, angry comments rolls in while the post is still up, including feedback from BIPOC fans, and it is deleted within a couple of hours.
ZAC makes
an Instagram post available here addressing some issues around the controversy.
Later, the main band account finally makes a post 'directly' addressing the criticism and comments are still enabled. This is met with another mixed response from fans. Many felt it was already too little too late. There has still been no apology to Black fans, no acknowledgment of the influence Black artists have had on their music,
and no willingness from the band to even do the bare minimum of actually saying black lives matter. The fandom continues to implode in comment sections.
That evening around midnight,
TAYLOR posts on his personal IG saying 'Love Casts Out Fear'.
Many fans feel he is having the best response out of the three, but a lot of commenters encourage him to highlight black artists or show what actions he has been taking to support black lives.
PINTERESTGATE/HANSONGATE* BEGINS
[SUP]*the word "Pinterestgate was kicking around before the post was made, then at the time it was posted it has already been titled Hansongate because although Zac is[/SUP] [SUP]
by far[/SUP] [SUP]the instigator here, all three have a responsibility in this.[/SUP]
June 6: Zac's social media accounts including a YouTube channel, a Pinterest board, a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a website, and a private Instagram all named "ITIAirsoft" or sometimes "Commanding Officer" begin circulating among fans.
Rumors are that someone close to Zac is the one who leaked it.
It's clear that the original purpose of these accounts was to manage the
Airsoft team of the same name that Zac assembled; however, as the team apparently seemed to get less active (last posts were ca 2015) Zac instead used the Pinterest account specifically to build his meme and propaganda collection. Screenshots show some memes depicting US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, commonly known as AOC which suggests that this account was still recently active (she was elected 2018).
The Pinterest board has been particularly damaging as it was full of rightwing propaganda. Including but not limited to racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and islamophobia. Worse still, several of the Pins included commentary from Zac (user "ITIAirsoft/Commanding Officer") that reaffirm his stance on the media he shared. One of the worst things was a pin supporting George Zimmerman, the man who murdered Trayvon Martin, a black teenager. At this time it was only
rumored that the account belonged to Zac, but there was enough evidence that many fans believed it was his.
This was the day
r/posthanson subreddit was created.
June 7: Boycotting. Fans begin to gather at this subreddit and many take action. Requesting membership renewals, donating to BLM adjacent charities in the band's name, selling their merch, canceling orders, etc. We're all at different levels here, some have denounced Hanson entirely, others are still waiting to see what happens. The main sentiment on this subreddit is heartbreak, disappointment, betrayal.
This is NOT a group of fans out to celebrate Hanson's demise, but people who are genuinely saddened at their behavior.
JUNE 8: On the afternoon of June 8, the
Hanson Instagram posted a single image, with comments turned off, affirming Black lives matter: "We believe any form of racism is an injustice, and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. There is no question we believe that black lives matter."
While there was a moment of joy and relief from the fans, many of us following the Hansongate story were also suspicious and did not feel it was enough. They receive many critical responses on Twitter but a lot of supportive responses on FB. At this point, much of the fanbase doesn't even know about Zac's Pinterest.
Within 2 hours,
Zac confirmed on Instagram via comments from a post on May 26 that he was ITIAirsoft and defended everything he posted that was questioned.
His wife, KATE,
then released a statement on Instagram.
June 9: Kate disabled comments on her post. Screenshots circulate that
ZAC is corresponding with fans via PM on hnet and expresses sadness about the situation but does not indicate he feels any remorse towards others; only himself. SCREENSHOTS
1 &
2
June 10: Business seems to have resumed as normal at 3CG; a newsletter was dispatched in the evening celebrating the 10-year anniversary of
Shout it Out with no acknowledgment of the current situation. By now, many Facebook fan groups have closed membership or archived temporarily.
On the evening of June 10,
Lisa Niemann, wife of known Hanson associate
Trevor, released a statement on facebook.
Unconfirmed reports of fans being blocked from the Twitter and Instagram accounts of ZAC, KATE, and the band have begun circulating and at least one instance of a fan having their Hnet account deleted without warning.
June 11: r/posthanson posts an
open letter requesting an apology/acknowledgement from the band.
So far, hnet CBIB and HTP remains up to date but there is no official word from the band.
JUNE 12 - 14: still no word from the band; all social media remains silent; more discussion continues amongst fans on all sides of the issue.
June 15: HBBC (Beer company) updates twitter with a photo that appears to be taken and posted by Taylor. CBIBs continue to be posted - fans have started to notice that all recent CBIBs are from the same day and that Zac is clearly absent from them.
June 16 - 18: very few posts aside from some activity on from the beer company.
Juneteenth (June 19): All 3 make individual posts.
June 20-21: Zac continues blocking fans that bring up Pinterestgate in any way, or even express anything less than positive without any response.
On June 21, someone asks him why he is blocking people, and his response (and remaining fallout) is best viewed here.
POSTGATE - PRESENT
By and large, the summer remained fairly uneventful. ITZ has mostly laid low.
July 18: A drafted but
unpublished blog entry written by ZAC is found on Hnet. It's unclear how users found it but it was never officially posted as a blog entry or event on the website and was a draft. It was originally dated for June 26. Once it is discovered, it's promptly removed.
Click here to read the discussion. The STICKIED comment on that post contains the screenshot.
While there is some measure of accountability taken in its text, ZAC still centers the conversation around himself. In the end, the post was never officially released, was exclusive to fanclub members, and has also been removed so it is considered a nonstarter.
July 22: TAYLOR hosts a panel for the MusiCares foundation. Some users tuned in to watch the stream and provided commentary on TAYLOR'S interaction with the panelists as race, white supremacy, and police brutality were discussed. Reactions were mixed but overall less-than-impressed. Click
here to read the discussion.
CCC: September 1 - 8 ITZ announces a residency for fall and winter at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa and sell tickets for in-person events in addition to livestream tickets. This is viewed as highly irresponsible and selfish, which is discussed at more length at the following posts.
November 1: ISAAC posts the following on his Instagram stories:
"At some point very soon Christians and Church's [sic] (and for that matter anyone of any faith) is going to have to decide, is [sic] your faith is more important than your fear. We are quickly approaching Christmas and it too will be canceled (by our governments), just like Easter was and Thanksgiving is being suggested to be. I for one will not comply. I fear God more that [sic] I fear death and far more than I fear my government!!!"
Screenshot and discussion hereBecause fans can't publicly comment on Instagram stories, they take to his most recent post about a Theodore Roosevelt book to publicly share their disappointment.
November 2: ISAAC shares another Instagram story attempting to clarify the first one, stating among other things "as this pandemic persists, what is your line with COVID/Lockdowns?".
Screenshot and discussion here.
Later this day, Radio.com announces an upcoming interview with the band, asking fans to submit their questions. Many fans responded by submitting questions about Isaac's views on COVID, as well as questions about the band's actions in relation to BLM.
Comments on this post (Instagram).
November 4: Queerty picks up the Isaac story.
Discussion and article link here.
The story is also eventually picked up by MSN, Perez Hilton, and the Mirror.
November 5: ISAAC is a no-show at the Radio.com interview. Nothing about Isaac's stories or views was asked during the interview, however, at least one somewhat critical fan question was answered, in relation to the 'hold on to the ones who really care' line from Mmmbop:
"Speaking hypothetically, would the guys consider that person to be one who loves you unconditionally, or one who challenges you to be a better person?
While Taylor feels those two people, hopefully, can be one and the same, as for Zac, he always felt that line represented the "people that you have identified in your life that care for you," he says. "It's about you searching your own thoughts and saying, 'who are the people who are really taking care of me, who are really giving into my life, and I need to do that back to them."
Discussion here.
November 6: ISAAC turns off and hides all Instagram comments, then deletes and reposts the Roosevelt book post, also with comments disabled.
November 5-7: Cain's in-person and livestream events continue as the pandemic continues.
An
E! Online article covers the release of Perennial and skims over mentioning the in-person aspect of the shows. The band makes no mention of Isaac's recent controversy, nor of the contentious US election ongoing at the time.
HANSONGATE MEDIA EXPOSURE
November 10: VICE breaks an investigative story about Hansongate including interviews from the
r/posthanson moderators and Black fans. The article includes the following statements from the band, which have been panned by fans as weak:
BAND
In an emailed statement to VICE, the band wrote, "We are so grateful to our incredible and diverse community of fans for their continued support and powerful connection with our music. We are proud to have people of so many different backgrounds as a part of the community who consider themselves Hanson fans."
ZAC
In an emailed statement to VICE, Zac wrote, "The leaked Pinterest page provided a distorted view of the issues surrounding race and social justice, which do not reflect my personal beliefs. I apologize for the hurt my actions caused."
ISAAC
"What I shared was driven by an emotional reaction to a recent personal experience," Isaac wrote in an emailed statement to VICE. "I'm sorry for the pain and worry that my posts caused. I don't believe there is a group conspiring against Christmas, only that I hope value is placed on both practices of safety and of faith."
Since its publication, the story has been picked up by
NME,
Vulture,
Stereogum,
InsideHook,
Pedestiran.TV, and
PinkNews. Some are deliberately spun incorrectly by stating it's about politics, and others have the right idea but are abridged or inaccurate. Other stories and reactions have been discussed at the podcast
Who? Weekly November 23, 2020 episode and
The Phase.
November 20: Taylor posts a solo performance of the Tinted Windows song "Take Me Back" to his IGTV. It's officially a tribute to the late Adam Schlesinger, but the discussion around it left some fans wondering if it did not have an incidental double-meaning.
TAYLOR BREAKS SILENCE
December 6: During Hanson.net Nightcap following the final Cain's performance,
TAYLOR mentioned the Hansongate controversy by name but said nothing about it one way or another. Response from fans is mixed: some are relieved it has finally been officially acknowledged and others feel it is mere lipservice.
December 17: In tandem with the birth announcement of daughter Maybellene Alma Joy,
TAYLOR posts another solo performance to Instagram; this time, for a new song "Sound like Joy." He uses the platform to raise awareness and call to support
the restoration of the Vernon AME Church in Tulsa, "the only standing structure from the Historic Black Wall Street and the only edifice that remains from the worst race massacre in American history." This is overall viewed as a positive of the Black-affirming action fans have asked to see.
December 30: TAYLOR officially breaks his silence and makes a longer statement about Hansongate in an interview with Lyndsey Parker on SiriusXM VolumeWest. He talks about how he understands why their inaction was perceived as "less compassionate," and explains more from their position but carefully avoids discussing ZAC and ISAAC's actions which results in many parts of the conversation that fans need to hear being excluded.
Discussion and transcript are found here.
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