The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards are auctioning off Phoebe Bridgers‘ smashed guitar from her Saturday Night Live performance in February.
Bridgers had hammered her Danelectro guitar against a fake guitar monitor while playing ‘I Know The End’, the closing track from her 2020 album ‘Punisher’. She did so with the blessing of the instrument brand, who apparently told Bridgers “they’re hard to break”.
The stunt became the subject of debate online with some calling her action “disappointing”, “extra” and an “unjustifiably awkward display of white privilege”. Others, however, claimed such comments were sexist and that a male artist wouldn’t have been criticised for the move.
Bids on the guitar are open now, until they close on April 11. From the two photos of the instrument provided by GLAAD, the guitar appears to be relatively intact apart from a large chunk missing from its body on the left side. It’s not known whether the electronics or input still function.
One bid for the guitar has been made so far at $5,500. You can add your own here.
Bridgers was nominated at the 2021 GLAAD Media Awards – which took place the night of Thursday, April 8 – as an Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist, along with Rina Sawayama, Arca, Orville Peck and others. The award went to rapper Chika for her project ‘Industry Games’.
When asked about the guitar controversy in an interview with Variety, Bridgers said she stood by it.
“The fact that it made people so mad is kind of what’s punk rock about it. No thought whatsoever went into what it represented or meant: I’d never done it before, so might as well do it [on SNL], where it’s gonna be immortalized,” she said.
“She continued: “It’s hilarious to me that people care so much, but, I mean, there’s a video of a steamroller crushing a bunch of Gibson [guitars] as a tax write-off because they weren’t selling all of their stock. Let that piss you off!”
Dave Grohl supported Bridgers’ guitar smash when asked about it during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, comparing it to his early days in Nirvana: “It was every fucking night,” he said. “My drums had holes in them from Kurt fucking chopping my drums.”
“I’ve seen enough smashed guitars, it feels fucking good to do it,” Grohl added.
Less complementary was David Crosby, who called the stunt “pathetic”. Bridgers responded by labelling him a “little bitch”.