I Hate Models Le Bon Air festival set cancelled over private jet request

I Hate Models has confirmed he will no longer play Le Bon Air Festival. The French techno artist had been due to perform at the Marseille event this weekend, but a disagreement with organisers over a private jet has led to the cancellation. 

News first broke on Instagram yesterday, Wednesday 15th May, with the festival announcing the set would not take place and that D.KO Records founder Mézigue would be the replacement. The post inferred that unreasonable travel demands were the cause of the decision. 

"No artist has ever taken a private jet to come and play at Le Bon Air Festival," the statement read. "This highly polluting means of transportation consumes 50 times more CO2 than a train. It's an ecological, economic and social aberration that we systemically refuse." 

In a subsequent response received by Resident Advisor, I Hate Models' agent referred to the situation as "disappointing" and "sad", and clarified the artist had intended on paying for the flight. Only airport transfers were being covered by the festival. 

"As I Hate Models had another gig in Germany the same night as the festival, it was agreed that we would manage transport with a buy-out," a representative of the artist said. "So we worked on a solution of a private jet as it was the only option that would ensure he arrived in time for his set time in Marseille.

"We never asked the festival to cover any of these costs," they continued. "He was really looking forward to playing for his fans and didn't want to let anyone down — even if it meant he had to pay for the private jet himself. He also offered to re-buy his CO2 emissions to make up for this at his own costs."

Private jet travel has been the centre of renewed controversy this year, with figures from the Institute for Policy Studies showing associated emissions had climbed by 23% since 2020. Amsterdam Schipol, Europe's fourth busiest airport, had announced its intention to ban private flights completely by 2026, although this has since been blocked by the Dutch government. Meanwhile, last year French authorities received approval from the European Commission to stop any internal flight of two-and-a-half hours or less, where rail is available, and introduce higher taxes for all private arrivals and departures.