Obviously flustered, his usually steady hands shaking and unintelligible at times, rock guitarist Pete Townshend — who’ll play Super Bowl XLIV’s halftime show with the British band The Who Sunday — faced the music at a press conference today in Fort Lauderdale.
Townshend and Who frontman Roger Daltrey were breezing through the traditional Super Bowl entertainment presser — which included Daltrey and Townshend playing, unplugged, Pinball Wizard and Won’t Get Fooled Again — when one last question came from the back of the Broward County Convention Center’s meeting room.
How does Townshend feel about the Florida child abuse activists who tried, unsuccessfully, to have him pushed back by immigration and asked the NFL to ban him from the concert?
Townshend, speechless for a few seconds, said he was “saddened” and equated the groups’ actions to “vigilantism.”
Daltrey (left) and Townshend at Thursday's press conference in Fort Lauderdale (Getty Images)
(Click on the photo or here for more pictures of the press conference.)
In an exclusive story last month, Page2Live revealed the concerns of anti-child porn advocates, including Brevard County’s Protect Our Children, about Townshend’s recent presence on the British sex offenders registry. The guitarist was arrested in 2003 after using his credit card to access child porn on the Web. He was never convicted, but admitted to accessing the site for “research” purposes. He remained on the registry for five years.
When they understood that Townshend wouldn’t be held back by immigration, Protect Our Children flooded the neighborhood around Dolphin Stadium, home of Super Bowl XLIV, with postcards bearing Townshend’s picture and warning of his arrival.
“I’m really saddened by this (attempts to ban him from the USA) and concerned about it,” Townshend said, as Daltrey fidgeted uncomfortably next to him. “I feel like we (he and children’s protectors) are on the same side.”
For more of Pete’s words, look below or click (Read more…)
