Here's the Washington Post's article on Letterman canceling Ani DiFranco's performance, scheduled for Thursday night.


Letterman Show Axes DiFranco Performance


By John Maynard
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 19, 2001; Page C07


Producers of CBS's "Late Show With David Letterman" canceled musician Ani
DiFranco's scheduled appearance tonight after the folk singer refused to
substitute a more "upbeat" song for one about racism.

DiFranco's manager, Scot Fisher, told The Post that the singer planned to
perform "Subdivision" in the show's final segment. The song begins, "White
people are so scared of black people, they bulldoze out to the country."

Fisher said "Late Show" producers told DiFranco last Thursday that the song
was not "up-tempo" enough and asked that she perform the more "upbeat"
"Heartbreak Even."

When DiFranco refused, "Late Show" on Monday replaced her with the Holmes
Brothers.

"Late Show" spokesman Steven Rubenstein said yesterday in a statement: "We
did not reject the song on the basis of its lyrical content. Rather, we felt
the option originally suggested by her representatives was preferable
musically."

Three songs were submitted to the show's producers in March. It wasn't until
last week, according to Fisher, that the show demanded she perform
"Heartbreak Even."

Fisher, however, said, "It's absolutely not [about] the tempo. The Letterman
people took it upon themselves to cancel a booking because . . . Ani DiFranco
wanted to sing a song about racism in America."

According to a statement by DiFranco's band label, Righteous Babe Records,
the song examines "the prevalence of racism in urban America and its
devastating impact on the landscape of cities nationwide."