Over the weekend, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder showed support for assault victim Natasha O’Brien, while performing on stage at Marlay Park.
The band were performing at the Dublin venue as part of their ongoing tour promoting their album Dark Matter, which arrived in April.
This comes after Cathal Crotty was handed down a three year suspended sentence for viciously assaulting Natasha O’Brien in May 2022. The ruling led to a major public outcry, with thousands protesting across Limerick, Dublin and Clare in support of Ms O’Brien over the weekend.
Mr Crotty received a suspended sentence, and is facing disciplinary proceedings by the Defence Forces, it was confirmed.
Vedder Calls On Courts To “protect our sisters”
Addressing the issue while on stage at Marlay Park, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder had this to say.
“It’s been brought to the forefront, which is a very positive thing”, Vedder said. “About women’s rights, women’s safety and some equality would be nice too”.
While also calling on the Irish courts to protect women, Eddie Vedder also added that it was wholesome to see so many men protesting in support of Natasha O’Brien.
“You know, there was lots of good men walking in the march too”, he said.
Vedder continued: “We gotta ask these judges too to protect our sisters, our daughters, our mothers, our wives”.
He also added: “And it might be a good idea to have some more female judges too,” Vedder added, before the band broke into their song Better Man”.
You can also check out footage of this here.
Back in April, Eddie Vedder also hinted that Pearl Jam might only have “one or two” albums left in them.
“The older you get, the better you are at living in the present”, Vedder also said at the time. “The understanding you have less time is the biggest number in the quotient”.
Read more on this here.
