US rockers Portugal. The Man have withdrawn from a scheduled appearance on Sunrise in the wake of controversy surrounding a segment about the stolen generations earlier this year.
The group was set to appear on the breakfast television show on Wednesday morning to promote their Australian tour but announced on social media on Tuesday night they had decided to pull out.
"We were scheduled to appear on Sunrise tomorrow morning but we have decided, as a band, that we do not want to be part of that show at this time," the post read.
"We come from rural Alaska and hold very close to our hearts the indigenous people of our home.
"While we are by no means experts in your countries (sic) history we know there are problems that, like ours, are yet to be resolved and only being amplified by the recent statements on Sunrise."
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The band also announced that Gadigal elder Uncle Allen Madden would welcome the band and audiences to the group's Sydney show on Tuesday night.
Portugal. The Man have withdrawn from a scheduled appearance on Sunrise.
Photo: Ashley Mar
The Feel It Still hit makers were in Australia for Groovin' The Moo and a number of side shows around the country including in Melbourne on May 3 and Brisbane on May 10.
A spokeswoman for the Seven Network confirmed the band had withdrawn from their appearance.
“Alaskan band Portugal. The Man advised on Tuesday evening they were cancelling their scheduled performance on Sunrise. We respect the bands decision and wish them well on the remainder of their Australian tour,” the spokeswoman said.
Sunrise has been mired in controversy since they first aired a segment about Aboriginal adoption with outspoken commentator Prue MacSween and Brisbane radio presenter Ben Davis hosted by Samantha Armytage where MacSween suggested Indigenous children should be taken from their families "just like the first stolen generation".
Groups have made several protests outside the Sunrise studios and at outside broadcasts.
Photo: Seven Network
The show copped enormous backlash with large numbers of protesters assembling in Martin Place, where Sunrise is filmed, as well as at outside broadcasts during the Commonwealth Games.
NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge lodged an official complaint about the segment to the Australian Communications and Media Authority on the day it aired calling it a "highly offensive, racist and divisive statement".
Two weeks after the initial segment aired, Armytage's co-host David Koch hosted a second segment about the issue with three Indigenous experts offering an alternative view.
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Nathanael Cooper is Fairfax Media's deputy entertainment editor
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