Adrian Eagle’s Free Palestine Shirt On ‘Spicks And Specks’ Draws 42 Complaints

Adelaide/Kaurna-based singer-songwriter Adrian Eagle made his grand return to the stage this week, performing his first solo release in five years on Spicks And Specks.

Performing his soulful, touching rendition of the Gloria Gaynor classic, I Will Survive, Eagle’s version of the song is dedicated to “survivors around the world.” As a result of Eagle’s fresh take, he changed some of the lyrics, singing: “They got all their life to live, they got all their love to give, they will survive, they will survive.”

For the performance on Spicks And Specks, Eagle wore the shirt you can see above, which reads: “Free Palestine, Free West Papua, Free Your Mind, Always Was, Always Will Be.”

TV Tonight reports that Spicks And Specks received 42 complaints about Eagle’s shirt. However, the ABC Ombudsman cleared the episode that aired on Sunday night (27 October), deeming that it did not breach editorial standards.

The complaints were surrounding Eagle’s shirt, stating that it was “offensive to Jewish people and encouraged Antisemitism,” his performance of I Will Survive “was a political protest and was not appropriate in an entertainment program,” and accused the ABC of being “biased against Israel.”

The Ombudsman stated that the ABC is “and should be, supportive of artists engaging in politics and activism through music and performance.”

Adding that Eagle’s performance was the first time that the “political message” was brought up during the show, the Ombudsman said that while they recognise that the subject matter of Eagle’s performance may have been unexpected for some audience members, “We consider that it was consistent with Spicks And Specks’ established support for musical performance and artistic expression and adhered to the ABC’s Editorial Policies.”

The Ombudsman’s statement continued, “We understand that societal attitudes to this song’s changed lyrics and to the messages printed on the artist’s shirt are divergent.

“However, we hold that any harm or offence caused can be justified by the editorial context of a music trivia program, including an obligation to take risks in support of artistic expression. The broadcast of artistic expression by the ABC does not mean the ABC agrees or disagrees with a particular view.”

Upon releasing his version of I Will Survive, Eagle said, “I wanted to offer this soulful rendition as a dedication to all of the survivors around the world right now. There’s a war externally and internally going on, and I pray we can all find peace through internal loving sound vibration.

“I was honoured to be asked by ABC to share our own version of ‘I Will Survive’ on Spicks and Specks. With the great help of Liam McGorry on production, I was able to really express my heart through these lyrics. I have the utmost respect for Gloria Gaynor and other soul legends who have paved the way for us with this empowered song.”

Spicks And Specks is available to watch on ABC iView. You can watch Eagle’s music video for I Will Survive below.