Friday 2 November 2007

Is Bono a hypocrite?



Or has Gombeen Man got him all wrong? It seems that he treats his workers very well, as five employees of U2 Ltd "shared almost €18 million in wages last year, the firm's accounts show" (Irish Times).

Wait. Five employees? It couldn't be messrs Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen and Paul McGuinness? We'll never know, as it seems that the accounts don't name the employees. But let's just take the leap anyway, and make that assumption.

Not that Gombeen Man has a problem with jaded rock stars banking money out of proportion to the merits of their artistic endeavors - that's Rock 'n' Roll, after all.

What he does have a problem with is the shameless, continuing, sanctimonious posturing of Bono on the theme of eradicating world poverty and telling us how our taxes should paid. Especially as U2 took their recording and publishing business to the Netherlands when there was a cap put on the Republic's tax exemption for 'artists' - which meant that Bono and Co. did not pay a penny of tax on the millions they got from royalties. No wonder they wanted the media to lay off Charlie Haughey, who introduced the exemption.

It's amazing that this vertically challenged clown gets such an easy ride from the same media and the gullible Irish public.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why don't we just get rid of Bono for good? Has anyone gotten over the puke inducing garbage that he has foisted on us for Ronnie Drew? The most appalling paddywhakcery shite I have ever heard. Bono is a total and utter wanker. Grossly overestimated singer and songwriter. AAARRRGGGHHH

The Gombeen Man said...

I agree totally, mate. Glad to see I'm not the only one who can't stand the sight and sound of the little b*ll*cks, and his persistent, hypocritical posturing.

Unknown said...

hey gombeen man, don't forget his cavorting about w/ gw bush on how the usa should spend money as bono recommends

expat in maynooth

The Gombeen Man said...

Hi PTM.

Thanks for making those very telling points.

I take you're a US national living in Maynooth? That's not too far from Gombeen Cottage, as it happens! Welcome to Gombeen Nation (both the blog and the country).

Yes, it's one thing Bono being a self-indulgent, egomaniacal, tax-dodging, moralistic little shit... but I'm always amazed how the Irish public lap it up? If it was Britain, for instance, he'd be slaughtered by the media and the public!

Anonymous said...

Aah!!! this is great topic! glad it was brought up!

bono is such an ego-centric, full of himself w'nker who has a grossly inflated opinion of himself, if i saw him in the street i would hurl abuse at him like a mad thing haha, highly unlikely that i ever will tho cus he's too busy on his yacht in french riveira. god if he really cared about africa he could actually clear more than a few countries national debt with his 60 million untaxable fortune..little b'llocks. my sister asked him to contribute to her voluntary work in africa and he and flatley wouldnt! of all people it was surprisingly ben dunne who gave her a contribution!
....plus U2's songs are extremely mediocre and get very little air play (if any) now which just goes to show they cant stand the test of time. pathetic this new remastered version of his old dated tripe that has of course flopped, he needs to get a life, no wonder rick ruben told him where to go if he wasnt gonna work wat a sad sad sad little man

Anonymous said...

Paul Hewson (a.k.a. Bono) is overrated indeed.
If there is anyone to be admired for trying to make a difference in the world, it should be people such as David Suzuki. He encourages people to make changes in a positive non preaching manner. Suzuki lives a comfortable middle class lifestyle in an average family size home. He does not drive expensive luxury cars. Can’t get more modest than that.

If I meet David Suzuki again, I would love to ask him how he feels about all this.

If Mr. Hewson wants to build his wealth and retain his lavish lifestyle, I don’t have a problem with that. Where I do have a problem is when he makes the average person feel guilty about not doing or giving enough to end poverty while he lives like a king. Let’s face it, he has the money and therefore the power in order to initiate changes.

The day Bono takes on an average lifestyle and gives most of his wealth to charity, then, I’ll start to take him seriously. Otherwise, he should keep a low profile and just stick to making music.

Being a fan of heavy metal, I’m quite sure that Mr. Hewson would not win over the hearts of most metalheads. Hypocrisy just does not have a place in metal culture.

Anonymous said...

Bono the tax dodging globalist rocker and one of those behind screwing the irish to get Ireland in the EU. He made 400 million euros off Facebook but pays no taxes in Ireland.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe I drank his Kool-Aid..will never buy U2 stuff again..

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