Beenie Man will not be on the bill of the Big Day Out festival, which will be held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in January 2010.

After several weeks of controversy, the organisers finally gave in to pressure from gay rights defenders.
Yet Beenie Man had explained himself, recalling that he had signed the Reggae Compassionate Act in 2007 and apologising for some of his songs. He had even received the support of several journalists who criticised the method and the decision to cancel his appearance.
In vain: the controversy swelled, via a Facebook group, all the way to the organisers' decision.
Beenie Man is not the only one affected by this renewed wave of protest from gay activists: Buju Banton, on tour in the United States, has had to fight to save certain dates, even going as far as meeting the representatives of associations in San Francisco.