Black Eyed Peas Wear Rainbow Armbands During NYE Poland Show

The Black Eyed Peas showed solidarity with the LGBT community to ring in the new year — doing so on Polish territory … and on a state-sanctioned TV channel, no less.

The music group was hired as the headlining gig for TVP’s “New Year’s of Dreams” show, and when they finally hit the stage … all 4 members came out wearing rainbow armbands. It seems they kept them on for a good while, too, as they went through their set.

Of course, that sparked outrage among Poland’s Law and Justice Party (PiS), which is in power at the moment — and which has taken on very strong anti-LGBT views and policies … trickling throughout much of the country and embraced by several citizens as well.

One such member of PiS, Marcin Warchol, expressed his indignation at the BEP’s accessories, writing … “LGBT promotion in TVP2 . DISGRACE! It’s not a New Year’s Eve of Dreams but a New Year’s Eve of Deviance.”

The funny thing is that TVP is, more or less, a state broadcaster — they regularly air programming that aligns with PiS … and the Black Eyed Peas were presumably hired by someone working there/with ties to the ruling party. So … this is kinda on them.

Will.i.am caught wind of the backlash and responded, writing … “#WHEREStheLOVE??? Unity, tolerance, understanding, oneness, respect, diversity & inclusion…THATS LOVE…people are people & we should all practice to honor & love all the different types of people on earth & learn from them…I LOVE YOU your country…”

He further addressed the matter on video, posting a clip of himself talking about why they did what they did — and it all comes down to trying to reach people who don’t see eye to eye.