The veteran children's entertainer tweeted his disgust at the band's name when he saw a performance shared on the CBC:
strongly object to that name. as bad as "food p**n" etc. https://t.co/MwIrIAysl4
— Raffi Cavoukian (@Raffi_RC) April 18, 2017
When a fan questioned Raffi's objection to the name, he said he was worried that youngsters might learn about pornography from it:
@SokoVino not a word to normalize in public conversation. consider youngsters, etc.
— Raffi Cavoukian (@Raffi_RC) April 18, 2017
New Pornographers frontman Carl Newman responded to the criticism with a string of rather melancholy tweets, thus making this the saddest Canadian music beef of the year.
TFW someone whose music you loved as a child says mean things about your life's work. https://t.co/fdl60zLqfy
— Carl Newman (@ACNewman) April 18, 2017
Actually I am not very familiar w/ Raffi's work. Just sent that tweet to make him feel bad. Always preferred puppet-oriented entertainment.
— Carl Newman (@ACNewman) April 18, 2017
Considering my childhood love for puppets, I think Raffi + I both agree that 'Puppetry Of The Penis' is in bad taste.
— Carl Newman (@ACNewman) April 18, 2017
Not a feud at all. In fact I think we both agree that "Puppetry Of The Penis" is in bad taste. A shared love of tasteful puppets. https://t.co/KBgWB5PkEK
— Carl Newman (@ACNewman) April 18, 2017
Playing Raffi for my 5 year old + he says "Is this the man that hates Daddy?" Heartbreaking. "No, he doesn't hate Daddy" I say, hugging him.
— Carl Newman (@ACNewman) April 18, 2017
The new pornography was supposed to hold a mirror to a better + changed society, but try explaining that to an apoplectic kids entertainer.
— Carl Newman (@ACNewman) April 18, 2017
.@Raffi_RC, it would mean the world to my son if you could tweet that you don't hate his Daddy, just my bands name. Silly misunderstanding. https://t.co/nwgxxdH6Ho
— Carl Newman (@ACNewman) April 18, 2017
"Maybe Raffi can't tweet to you because he's playing a concert" I say to my son. A lie but I want to protect him from this cruel world.
— Carl Newman (@ACNewman) April 18, 2017
My son didn't think our band name meant anything. Now he wants to know if I'm "a bad man". It breaks me in two. @Raffi_RC
— Carl Newman (@ACNewman) April 18, 2017