The band Bolaget boycotts Rockbjörnen and directs strong criticism at Aftonbladet.
This after the newspaper’s attention-grabbing publication where they unmasked the music duo Hooja.
“Aftonbladet’s hanging of our friends in Hooja is disrespectful to what they have built and stand for,” the company writes in a statement.
The company has achieved great success since they started in 2019. Their song “Kan inte gå” became Sweden’s most streamed song in 2022.
The celebrated band from Falun is nominated in three categories in this year’s edition of Aftonbladet’s music prize Rockbjörnen. Despite that, the Company now chooses to boycott participation, despite possible prizes.
Aftonbladet’s debunking of Hooja
Last week Aftonbladet published an article where they revealed what Hooja looks like behind the masks. The successful duo has chosen to hide behind ski goggles and masks at performances and media contexts.
Hooja made a statement on Instagram after Aftonbladet’s publication.
“We want to thank all the Poles and the media who, despite all the uproar, respected our wish not to have to go public with the private, since we have never gone out of our way to hide our identities, it feels damn great that so many people understand”, they write.
Music journalist Fredrik Strage comments on the deworming to TV4 Nyheterna.
– You erase a bit of the mystery in collaboration with the person who created the secret. Had Hooja not masked himself, they might not even have fought, he says and continues:
– Even if everyone knows who Hooja is now, they can still pretend to be the wiggling chainsaw-wielding filurs from the sparsely populated areas. I doubt the evening papers would have done the same if they weren’t secret, then maybe it wouldn’t have been as interesting.
The company’s boot to Aftonbladet
Many fans strongly criticized the magazine’s unmasking of the artists. Now the band Bolaget is also roaring away.
“We in the Company choose to forgo both the participation of Aftonbladet’s Rockbjörnen, and any profits, as we believe that Aftonbladet’s hanging out of our friends in Hooja is both disrespectful to what they have built up and stand for, and also to their fans,” the band writes via a posts on Instagram.
“Desperately trying to get clicks”
The company further writes in the post that they are grateful for all the fans who listen to their music and go to concerts.
“It is you who make us who we are, and it is because of you that we love what we do. Not the media and their desperate attempts to get clicks. Therefore, we choose to abstain,” they wrote to fans on the social media platform.
On Tuesday evening, it became clear that even the protagonists in question, Hooja, are boycotting Rockbjörnen.
“Many people ask if we are going to Rockbjörnen this year, the answer is no. Thank you to everyone who voted for us, not a damn prize in the world can compare to having you as Poles,” the duo writes on their Instagram.
TV4 Nyheterna has been in contact with Martin Schori, Aftonbladet’s deputy editor-in-chief and deputy responsible publisher. He writes in a message that he refrains from commenting on the Company’s criticism.