Opposing Views – by Michael Allen
Soul singer Lauryn Hill was recently jailed over her unpaid tax bill, which is currently $500,000.
According to the International Business Times, Hill was sentenced to three months in jail and ordered to undergo counseling because of her conspiracy theories, including the claim that musical artists are exploited by corporate America.
However, Hill is not the only musical artist to make this claim.
Musicians such as Prince, Don Henley, John Fogerty, Tom Scholz (founder of Boston), George Michael, Paul McCartney and many other acts have made similar claims about the recording industry. At one point in their careers, Michael and Prince both claimed to be enslaved by their music contracts.
Hill, who sang with the Fugees and had a solo career, has also been ordered to three months of home confinement, which is what she has been doing for sometime.
Hill claimed she had “withdrawn from society” after alleged threats against her family.
Hill pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion last year and has already paid $900,000 on her tax bill.
Shortly before she was arrested last year, Hill wrote a blog posting on Tumblr slamming the music industry for a “climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism.”
“Over-commercialization and its resulting restrictions and limitations can be very damaging and distorting to the inherent nature of the individual,” Hill wrote.
During her trial, Hill told the court: “I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them. I had an economic system imposed on me.”
No quicker way to get blacklisted and ostracized than to tell the truth about the ‘entertainment’ industry.
Counseling for conspiracy theories? Re-education camp? I’m thinking of Linda Hamilton in “Terminator” when she is in mental hospital and trying to pretend that she is cured of her “delusions.”