Superstar rapper and TV star LL Cool J is a man of principles.
This evening he told his social media followers he will not be performing after all at the Wawa July 4th “Welcome America” concert in Philadelphia on Friday.
The reason? AFSCME District Council 33 workers are on strike in Philadelphia trying to get higher pay and health care benefits.
City workers have stopped doing their jobs and are on picket lines everywhere.
“I will not perform across a picket line when people are hurting,” says the noble rapper, whose real name is James Todd Smith.
District Council 33 represents about 9,000 city workers in services handled by the Sanitation Department, Water Department, Police Dispatch, Streets Department, maintenance at the airport and so on. The union left negotiations with Mayor Cherelle Parker and her administration without a new contract in place.
LL Cool J says he will be in Philly in case things change, but if they don’t, the festival will not get to hear him.
The show’s other headliner, Jazmine Sullivan, hasn’t said if she will go on anyway.
