{shortcode-f52c44f1916bd8fd636667b6fc777d90fe0d920e} This past Monday, March 24th, Harvard College Events Board announced that Natasha Bedingfield, a British pop singer most recognized for hits such as “Unwritten” and “Pocketful of Sunshine,” would headline the annual Yardfest festival.

Student opinions on the announcement were mixed. One anonymous student on social media platform Sidechat wrote, “natasha bedingfield headlining yardfest means recession pop is so back.” Others reacted less positively, with another anonymous student on Sidechat writing, “natasha bedingfield for yardfest…we need affirmative action back STAT.”

However, Bedingfield released a statement on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, late Monday evening announcing that she has decided to cancel her appearance at Yardfest, citing “the bloody massive amounts of turkeys strutting around Harvard’s campus, mate.” When The Crimson reached out for more information from Bedingfield’s team, all they responded with was a link to a 30-minute long compilation of people being chased by turkeys, narrated by David Attenborough.

Matt Ressingfield ’28 was one of many students disappointed by Bedingfield’s announcement. “Natasha Bedingfield saved my life. Literally. When I was a young child, my house caught on fire while I was sleeping. I woke up sweating and terrified, trapped under what felt like mountains of wood and debris. I screamed and screamed, begging, pleading, praying for someone to come rescue me. Just when I was about to give up hope, I see Natasha walking out of the fire towards me. She took my hand and pulled me out from under the debris and whispered in my ear, ‘Feel the rain on your skin.’ My fourth-degree burns healed completely by the next day,” he said.

Knotta T. Urki ’25 was also disappointed by the sudden announcement, specifically noting her reason for cancelling. “It just feels really disrespectful. Like the poultry profiling has gotten really out of hand lately, and it’s sad that no one seems to really be talking about it,” she commented.

The Harvard College Events Board has yet to make a statement regarding the situation and who, if anybody, will be replacing Bedingfield’s position as headliner of Yardfest. An anonymous tip was sent to The Crimson early Tuesday morning, stating, “There have been internal discussions of Natasha Bedingfield being replaced by an hour-long spoken word performance by Dean Khurana.” After learning of this, one member of The Crimson who does not wish to be named said, “Nah, fuck that shit.”