Gracie Abrams defends Dora Jar against 'uncool' petition

Gracie Abrams has a few things to get off her chest before kicking off the European leg of her 'The Secret of Us' tour.

The 'I Love You, I'm Sorry' musician announced last week that bedroom pop musician singer Dora Jar will be her opening act on the tour, which begins in Madrid, Spain, on February 8. 

However, some of her fans were less than impressed with her choice of artist. One fan even started a Change.org petition to have her removed. 

"Many fans, including myself, are baffled by the recent announcement that Dora Jar will be the opening act for The Secret of Us Tour's Europe shows. We are perplexed as we do not recognize her, and with less than two weeks till the tour, it’s virtually impossible to familiarize ourselves with her slow-paced songs.”

The fan added in the petition: "For a memorable concert experience, an opening act should set the mood and get the crowd excited, but Dora’s slow-tempo songs may not achieve this goal... It seems only fair that a more well-known, energetic artist or band should replace Dora as the opening act."

The petition quickly went viral with many expressing how distasteful it is.

"I feel so bad for Dora Jar. Can u imagine being petitioned against on a huge career opportunity because you aren't popular enough," one X user commented. 

Jar, whose real name is Dora Jarkowski, brushed off the petition, saying she wasn't fazed by the hate. 

"I'm here to perform for all the music-loving open-hearted fans; those who aren't interested can go buy some merch while I'm playing (but they might as well let me entertain them tho...)," she replied to a fan's concern over the petition. 

She added that "an overwhelming amount of fans" have been "excited & kind" to her following the announcement. 

ALSO READ: Music icon Barbra Streisand praises Gracie Abrams

Who is Dora Jar? 

Jar might be unfazed by the hate, but Abrams is not!

The 25-year-old described the petition as "wildly uncool and bizarre". Abrams, who was one of the opening acts during Taylor Swift's record-breaking 'Eras' tour, says the hate Jar is getting "does not remotely add up".

"I've only seen everyone's total excitement and I couldn't be luckier or prouder to share a stage with this talented wonder. Stream everything she's ever made whether or not your're coming to the show. Dora forever and ever," she commented on an Instagram post about the petition. 

Jar might be unfamiliar to many of Abrams' fans but she has been making a name for herself in the music industry since releasing her EP, 'Digital Meadow', in 2021. 

She has received praise from Elton John, Charli XCX, Grimes and Remi Wolf who described her as "unlike any creature on this earth". 

Billie Eilish is also a fan. Jar opened for the Grammy winner during her 'Happier Than Ever' tour.

"I’ve been obsessed with her since ‘Ocean Eyes’ [dropped]. She sent me a bunch of DMs saying that she loved ‘Digital Meadow’, which was f***ing insane," Jar told NME about how she ended up on tour with the 'Birds of a Feather' singer. 

Eilish fans who watched Jar perform for the first time at one of Eilish's concerts were equally impressed. 

"I’ve never heard of Dora Jar but after 10 min of her opening for Billie Eilish, it seems like she’ll be a household name at some point. Wow," one wrote on X in 2022. 

ALSO READ: Taylor Swift praises Charli XCX's songwriting skills

South Africa might not be one of the stops on 'The Secret of Us' tour, but she has thousands of fans in the country. 

Abrams currently has two songs on the CTM Top 40 with Danny Painter. 'I Love You, I'm Sorry' is at #5 while 'That's So True' is #22. 

Tune in Saturdays from 10:00 to 14:00 to find out who's on top of the chart!

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Main image credit: Instagram/@gracieabrams