Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and Al Jardine had "nothing to do" with band's Trump fundraiser gig
Founding Beach Boys members Brian Wilson and Al Jardine want to make one thing very clear: They are not involved in the venue choices made by the current touring iteration of the iconic Californian rock band. This includes a recent appearance at an election fundraiser for Donald Trump.
Per Variety, the pair made a statement distancing themselves from Sunday’s Orange County event where the Beach Boys—led by fellow founding member Mike Love—entertained. “We have absolutely nothing to do with the Trump benefit today in Newport Beach. Zero,” a spokesperson for Wilson and Jardine told Variety that day. “We didn’t even know about it and were very surprised to read about it in the Los Angeles Times.” This political point of contention between the original members is nothing new. Back in February, Wilson and Jardine backed a Change.org petition calling for a boycott of the touring Beach Boys after the group headlined at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada alongside Donald Trump Jr. “This organization supports trophy hunting, which both Al and I are emphatically opposed to,” Wilson said at the time. “There’s nothing we can do personally to stop the show, so please join us in signing the petition.”
This will likely remain a problem for Wilson and Jardine, who have not performed with their surviving Beach Boys bandmates since their 50th anniversary tour in 2012. Since then, Love legally acquired the Beach Boys name and uses to continuing touring and apparently shill for the Trump family. Love has defended his support of Trump, stating that he doesn’t “have anything negative to say about the president of the USA,” who is a vocal Beach Boys fans.