However, rather than having uncovered a web of corruption, those pushing the Young-Pfizer story were engaging in the classic conspiracy theorist’s fallacy of finding whatever possible connection they can between two separate entities (in this case, Young and Pfizer) without first testing the logical or chronological basis of that putative link. Finally, it is also true that in August 2020, Blackstone hired Jeff Kindler as a senior advisor, and that Kindler used to be the chairman and CEO of Pfizer. Secondly, it is also true that in October 2021, Blackstone bought an ownership stake in Hipgnosis, as demonstrated in news releases published by both companies. In a news release, Hipgnosis wrote: “…The Company has acquired 50% of Neil Young’s worldwide copyright and income interests in his entire song catalogue comprising 1,180 songs.” First, it appears to be true that, in January 2021, Young sold half of his songs to Hipgnosis. That claim can be dismissed.īefore assessing the logic behind the theory, and its coherence, it’s worth briefly evaluating the accuracy of each of its components. The first point to note here is that, even among those promulgating the Young-Pfizer theory, it is not seriously suggested that Pfizer itself - which is, after all, a pharmaceutical company - owns the rights to any of Young’s music. Now I don’t know the answer to this, but did Neil Young independently make the decision to try and blackball Joe Rogan for questioning big pharma and the government narrative? Or was it a team decision with a multi-billion-dollar investment firm who also owns a big chunk of his music? Kindler, former chairman and CEO of Pfizer, as senior adviser.” Blackstone is “an American alternative investment management company” who, interestingly enough, in 2020 announced the appointment of “Jeffrey B. In October of 2021, Blackstone and Hipgnosis Song Management launched “$1 billion partnership to invest in songs, recorded music, music IP and royalties.” Interesting. On social media, a conspiracy theorist who uses the moniker An0maly outlined the theory in helpful detail, starting with the observation that in January 2021, Young reportedly sold half of his catalog to a U.K.-based investment fund called Hipgnosis, for around $150 million. #Hipgnosis neil young spotify seriesOthers did not explicitly claim that Pfizer itself owned some or all of Young’s catalog, but did suggest that the company held sway over him, by way of a series of connections, and that therefore Young’s opposition to Rogan and his criticism of vaccine misinformation should be dismissed as the result of corruption and self-compromise, rather than a principled stance. In the midst of that controversy, vaccine skeptics and COVID-19 conspiracy theorists shared a ludicrous conspiracy theory claiming that the pharmaceutical company Pfizer - which produces a widely-used COVID-19 vaccine - either owned the rights to Young’s music catalog or, through a chain of connections, held sway over the rock star and influenced, or even ordered, his pro-vaccination stance.įor example, some social media users posted a meme with the text, “When you realize Neil Young’s music catalogue is owned by Pfizer”: 24, Young wrote that he wanted his music removed from the streaming platform Spotify, unless the company ended its agreement to host Joe Rogan’s podcast, which has on several occasions provided a forum for potentially harmful misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. In response, Spotify removed Young’s back catalog from its library, rather than cutting ties with Rogan. In early 2022, folk-rock legend Neil Young found himself the target of a laughable conspiracy theory after he spoke out against COVID-19-related misinformation.
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