British folk-rocker Dolly Mavies has addressed the recent debacle that ensued after she walked out of her own gig last month due to the presence of U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
The singer-songwriter, real name Molly Davies, was expected to play an event in Daylesford, a village in the Cotswolds. But, when she and her band arrived at the venue, they became “suspicious” when they saw a “lot of security around... and then a huge convoy of police motorbikes and very big cars,” she told the BBC.
Mavies explained that they were then informed the event was being held for Vance, who was supposedly “going to be there for the day.”
“So we decided that we didn’t want to perform and it wasn’t something we wanted to do and entertain him,” she said. “So we decided to leave.”
While Vance and his family were indeed on a summer vacation in the Cotswolds in mid-August, a person familiar with his plans told the BBC that he did not attend the event, nor did he have plans to attend it — despite reports that he was at the venue.
Mavies said it was a significant decision for her to abandon the concert because it meant giving up “a day of work, day of being paid.”
However, after her walkout made headlines, she said she was inundated with “wonderful comments and support from people all across the world.”
“Obviously there’s an overwhelming sense of support in America,” Mavies acknowledged. “I think for a lot of American people there’s a lot of uncertainty, and a lot of people are scared, and it was amazing to feel like they’d been heard.”
Still, there were some critics who accused her of orchestrating a deliberate PR stunt.
“We definitely didn’t do that at all. If we were that clever we would have done something before now,” said Mavies, who last year released her debut album, The Calm & The Storm.
“It riled some people up and that’s for them to decide... but I do think it’s really interesting because in the grand scheme of things we just chose not to do something,” she added, noting, “We could’ve done something much more extravagant… leaving is the most peaceful way of protest in some way.”
Vance’s family vacation in the Cotswolds last month sparked large protests from villagers. Many held signs telling him to “go away” and a truck drove around the area displaying a doctored image of Vance with a bald head, which has become a popular meme online.
