Rapper Lupe Fiasco getting tossed off stage (though organizers deny the characterization) from an Inauguration concert is causing quite a commotion on Twitter and hitting the blogs.

Organizers released a statement, which frankly had a lot of doublespeak in it about the situation.

StartUp RockOn is all about startups helping startups. At Sunday night’s Inauguration Celebration at the Hamilton Live, organizers set out to honor innovative visionaries with grants, accolades and a party worthy of the success we achieved at the RNC and DNC this summer.

Lupe Fiasco performed at this private event, and as you may have read, he left the stage earlier than we had planned. But Lupe Fiasco was not “kicked off stage” for an “anti-Obama rant.” We are staunch supporters of free speech, and free political speech. This was not about his opinions. Instead, after a bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance that left the crowd vocally dissatisfied, organizers decided to move on to the next act.

The party continued as planned, and we celebrated the announcement of CodeNow’s winning the Grant Challenge. CodeNow is a non-profit startup based in Washington DC that teaches “underrepresented high school students basic skills in computer programming.”

StartUp RockOn was founded last year by three startups: HyperVocal, EventFarm and Fighter Interactive.

That’s two different reasons. Now here’s the third; HyperVocal tweeted:

Disappointed that an artist took opportunity to use an event celebrating innovation/startups to make a political statement. #StartUpRockOn

— hypervocal (@hypervocal) January 21, 2013

Blogger Sooper Mexican points out the irony of the tweet in a screen capture of their Twitter cover, where they mock Ann and Mitt Romney.

Still, let’s pretend their invitation doesn’t read, “an evening celebrating President Obama’s 2nd term.” You know, political stuff.

Now watch the short video and be the judge for yourself:

It appears they cut off Fiasco’s mic, the crowd was still cheering him on while he rapped, the lights were then turned off, security then took the stage and forced the rapper off. This kinda pokes a hole in the “next act” reason cited in the statement.

All three different stories StartUp RockOn/Hypervocal is pushing seem to have a hole in them, except they didn’t like his comments so they kicked him off. Be it brand decision or a political one. They may have confused themselves.

One last thought, did this company that runs a “viral” blog not Google search “Lupe Fiasco”?

2013, Barack Obama, concert, HyperVocal, Inauguration, Lupe Fiasco, StartUp RockOn