Next week's South By Southwest in Austin has lost some big participants from the film portion of the festival.
South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival 2020 will no longer be hosting special appearances from Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Ozzy Osbourne, and Beastie Boys.
All three acts were set to participate in the film section of the festival in Austin, Texas, with NIN leading a keynote speech on their amazing Watchmen score, Ozzy promoting his documentary, Biography: The Nine Lives Of Ozzy Osbourne, and Beastie Boys discussing the Spike Jonze-directed Beastie Boys Story.
Now, though, they join the likes of Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon Studios and TikTok, who have all also dropped out of the event – which is still scheduled to run from March 13-22 – due to the ongoing travel and health concerns related to coronavirus.
“As a precaution, WarnerMedia has decided it best not to move forward with activations at SXSW,” say WarnerMedia, the company who ultimately own Nine Inch Nails' and Beastie Boys' respective projects. “We look forward to seeing everyone in Austin next year.”
Though the choice was out of Nine Inch Nails' hands, the band tweeted that "it was the right decision".
"We will see you soon," they added. "Be safe and smart."
Earlier in the week, Dr. Mark Escott, interim medical director and health authority for Austin Public Health, told Austin American-Statesman: “Right now, there is no evidence that closing South By Southwest or other activities is going to make this community safer. And if there’s any evidence that our community will be safer by closing down public events, we’ll do that.”
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