The Beastie Boys were forced to drop out of their SXSW appearance, due to the increasing concern over the Coronavirus. The pioneering hip hop group — which now consists of Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horvitz — was set to participate in the Austin festival’s film portion, where they would discuss their upcoming biopic, Beastie Boys Story.
Diamond previous described the Spike Jonze-directed movie as a “kind of a live documentary film,” which was primarily filmed during the Beastie Boys’ run of shows at Brooklyn’s King’s Theatre last year. Beastie Boys Story will reportedly be “an intimate, personal story of their band and 40 years of friendship.”
Although Diamond and Horvitz will not appear for the event, the film is still set to hit Apple TV on April 24 and will be shown in select IMAX theaters on April 3. The pair were forced to pull out of the festival due to Apple TV’s decision to avoid the event, marking the latest company to back out of SXSW amidst Coronavirus fears.
According to Variety, music giants Sony, WarnerMedia and Universal Music Group canceled their participation in the festival on Thursday (March 5). The music giants have now followed the lead of tech companies Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, LinkedIn, Audible, IBM and Intel, all of which have removed themselves due to the virus.
“As a precaution, WarnerMedia has decided it best not to move forward with activations at SXSW,” CNN Communications announced on Twitter Thursday (March 5). “We look forward to seeing everyone in Austin next year.”
Beside corporations, several celebrities have also pulled out of the festival. Ozzy Osbourne, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross recently canceled their festival appearances.
SXSW’s film portion is scheduled to begin on March 13, with the festival’s conference set to run until March 22.