Remigio Pereira of the Tenors said he is concerned for his life after dropping the lyrics “All lives matter” into the version of “Oh, Canada” his group performed at July’s MLB All-Star Game in San Diego.
The response to Pereira’s protest — which came from Canadians who were upset he changed their national anthem, as well as Black Lives Matter activists — was so intense and threatening that the singer refused to leave his home in Toronto for almost a month after the incident. In fact, he disguised himself when he finally went grocery shopping.
While he regrets his decision to communicate the message in the manner he did, he remains committed to that message.
“It might be the most irrational thing I’ve ever done in my life, but it was for a rational cause,” Pereira told the Los Angeles Times in his first public comments since the All-Star Game.
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Pereira acted without the knowledge of the other three singers in the Tenors. He was kicked out of the group and has not spoken to any of them since.
MLB also was not pleased. The league demanded an immediate apology, and Pereira has not stopped apologizing since.
According to the L.A Times report:
He posted a photograph of himself on Instagram holding a sign saying “I’m sorry.” He uploaded an audio clip called “Black Lives Do Matter” on SoundCloud and tried to explain that “love” was his motivation for dropping the French lyrics “For your arm knows how to bear the sword. It knows how to bear the cross” and instead — in English — singing, “We’re all brothers and sisters. All lives matter to the great.”