Prominent film critic asserts pop star Lorde's support for BDS has caused her career to suffer. 'Her position on Israel killed her tour.'

A prominent US-based film critic recently attributed slumping ticket sales to concerts by the pop star Lorde to her decision to bow to pressure from anti-Israel organizations and cancel a show in Israel.

Film pundit Roger Friedman alleged in a recent column that Lorde's recent concert tour was turning into a commercial flop. "Tonight she’s playing the Gila River Arena in Arizona. There are huge chunks of seats empty. You can buy whole rows almost anywhere in the building," wrote Friedman.

"Things get worse as you go through her tour schedule, particularly in the New York area. You don’t have to go to StubHub, either. Just check Ticketmaster," continued Friedman. "For the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 4th, I was able to locate blocks of 24 seats together in almost every section. For other dates, it was possible to buy 8 seats together in dozens of locations."

Friedman went on to blame Lorde's slumping ticket sales for her open decision to boycott Israel and cancel a planned concert in Israel. "What turned everyone off to Lorde? I do think it’s tied to her boycott of Israel," contended Friedman. "She decided not to play Tel Aviv on the advice of Roger Waters, who also boycotts Israel without realizing he’s instigating anti-Semitism."

"Clearly, Lorde’s position on Israel has killed her tour."

Friedman added that Lorde's Israel decision was "a direct factor in her not being invited to sing solo on the Grammy Awards".

Lorde had been scheduled to perform in Israel in June. In December however, she announced that she was canceling the show following criticism from pro-Palestinian Arab fans in her native New Zealand. Israeli concert organizers announced the cancellation and said ticket sales would be refunded.

Lorde later justified her decision, claiming it was the right one and adding, “I pride myself on being an informed young citizen, and I had done a lot of reading and sought a lot of opinions before deciding to book a show in Tel Aviv, but I’m not too proud to admit I didn’t make the right call on this one. Tel Aviv, it’s been a dream of mine to visit this beautiful part of the world for many years, and I’m truly sorry to reverse my commitment to come play for you. I hope one day we can all dance.”

Foreign artists who seek to perform in Israel are under constant pressure from BDS activists to cancel their shows.

Much of this pressure comes from former Pink Floyd frontman and notorious anti-Israel activist Roger Waters who most Jews consider as anti-Semitic as he is anti-Israel. He once floated a pig balloon with a Star of David on it at a concert, leading the Wiesenthal Center, founded to combat anti-Semitism, to call him "an open hater of Jews."

His list of targets includes Jon Bon Jovi, Alan Parsons, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Radiohead and actress Scarlett Johansson.