The long-running Bruce Springsteen Facebook fan club known as Spring-Nuts is shutting down after political fights over the Bosss activism reached a breaking point around his endorsement of Sen.
-elect Abdul El-Sayed, Asbury Park Press coverage and follow-ups reported.
According to Asbury Park Press reporting amplified Nov. 89, the 11-year-old group had grown past 18,000 members before clashes over the political nature of Springsteens recent tours and public stances overwhelmed its civility rules. Mediaites write-up of the same farewell likewise tied the collapse to outrage over Springsteens El-Sayed endorsement in Michigan.
Club founder Howie Chaz said fans respected Springsteens right to speak but could not keep partisan warfare out of the community. As Bruce became more outspoken about his politics, something we understood and respected as his absolute right, we found ourselves facing a difficult balancing act, Chaz said.
How could we be a Bruce Springsteen fan community trying to protect that harmony and camaraderie and ignore messages and statements coming directly from the very artist who brought us all together? he asked. The breaking point, according to Chaz, was Springsteens endorsement of El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race.
Chaz and his wife Julie said cultural polarization spilled into our little corner of the E Street world. What should have been respectful differences of opinion too often deteriorated into personal attacks, bullying, insults, and some genuinely vile and hateful rhetoric, they said.
The founders once pitched Spring-Nuts as a kindness-first refuge, saying they wanted the club synonymous with kindness, empathy, friendship and community. Members also raised money for causes including WhyHunger, and Springsteen once greeted the group during a Stone Pony benefit.
Even that shared history could not hold after years of fights over Springsteens progressive politics and an ongoing feud with President Donald Trump. For many fans, the Nov. 8 farewell underscored how quickly a music community can fracture when fandom becomes another front in partisan conflict.
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