In a dance music scene where most of the higher echelon DJs are simply too timid to say anything about any of the big issues of the day, Honey Dijon is quite refreshing. The long-time DJ and producer – whose real name is Honey Redmond – has been working in the industry since the 1990s, and has done very well for herself.

She is quite outspoken on a number of issues and cares little about whom she upsets in the process. For example, she paid a fond tribute to Paul Reubens after he died recently – whilst mysteriously omitting the child porn probe he faced in the early 2000s. Or there is, of course, her ongoing disingenuous claim to have won a Grammy.

In many ways, we admire her stubborn determination to say what she wants to say – but there does seem to be one subject where the normally vocal Redmond has almost nothing to say. And that’s the topic of Dubai and the human rights abusing United Arab Emirates.

A number of Redmond’s friends have associations with the area. For example, there’s Beyoncé Knowles – the one who actually won the Grammy and who apparently still won’t appear in any picture with Redmond. Or there’s Madonna, who’s been working in the country many times over the years – indeed, Ears To The House understands that she even owns a house there.

More recently, Defected ventured out and did an official tour of Dubai. Defected is, of course, a label which Redmond is closely involved with – their sub-label Classic released her album only two years ago. But Redmond’s name was nowhere to be seen on the Dubai lineup, and nor did she apparently have anything to say on the subject.

So why is Redmond seemingly so reluctant to upset her own friends? After all, there was one moment when she was a little more forthcoming with her views on the subject – even if it took a pandemic for her to do so. Speaking to mysteriously rising star Ash Lauryn back in 2020 for Mixmag, she said the following when asked a question about her experience of racism in the industry…

“I have to say things have been pretty well, except when I went to Dubai. That was a bit of a mindf**k. But no, because I usually choose not to go to places where there is a lot of homophobia, transphobia, racism, or anti-women practice. I choose not to go to places that culturally do not uplift.”

Where Redmond chooses to visit or not is clearly a matter for her own conscience – and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone trying to argue otherwise. But this gaping chasm of silence on the issue of Dubai’s human rights record – identifying as trans in the UAE is an offence potentially punishable by death – has certainly been noticed.

And it’s hard to believe that Redmond – described by various industry sources as intelligent, astute, and highly perceptive – is bound to have also noticed that her apparent friends don’t seem to share her values on the subject. The time when her silence will no longer cut the mustard is fast approaching…