If you head over to the PBS profile page on X, formerly Twitter, they make a declaration as proud as it is pomopus. They say that “PBS’s editorial independence is central to our work and will never change. We produce trustworthy content that features unbiased reporting.”.

Now, it’s not for Ears To The House to question such a statement more broadly – although after events this week, questions will no doubt have to be asked within The Public Broadcasting Service to explain just how on earth Derrick May ended up fronting a 30-minute programme about techno on the network.

Back in 2020, the mainstream dance music press published a series of articles detailing very serious allegations of sexual abuse made against Derrick May – many of them dating back decades. There was also a $6million case being brought against him over an allegation of rape in Toronto from 2004 – led by the ferocious Gloria Allred.

Of course, it wasn’t the media that first made allegations of sexual abuse against May – journalist Michael James began doing so using his Facebook page in November 2019. And it was none other than James who managed to find out about the PBS show – amusingly titled Detroit Performs, including a performance by May’s own lackey, Leonard “Drummer B” Ware.

Once PBS started being contacted by people pointing out the numerous allegations against May, the company responded in the only way it could – by taking the programme off their online player. Anyone trying to watch it was instead greeted with a 404 error – meaning the page has been deleted…

Their quick response is in stark contrast to the slow pace in Detroit when May wanted to appear at their Thanksgiving Day parade last year – only removing him at the last minute. PBS will no doubt have questions to answer as to how this programme managed to be broadcast in that format – but that’s a matter for them to explain.

In the meantime, how is Derrick May himself feeling about the way things have panned out? He posted a hint as to his irritation yesterday, sharing on Facebook that life was not to be “wasted on idiots” – alongside a picture of his warm coat, as previously seen last winter.

But a source was more than happy to divulge more information, telling us “Derrick is f***ing furious about all this. His strategy of only announcing things at the last minute has shielded him from a lot of criticism in the past, and it’s worked. This is the first time where it hasn’t, and he’s panicking.”

“The truth is that Derrick is a man under pressure. Hagi Craig [his manager] wants to start seeing results from him, because results from him mean money for her. Mike Weston wants a return on his investment. I don’t know how much he’s sunk into reviving Derrick’s career, but it’s a lot. This was a real PR coup for Derrick and his people, and it’s turned into an absolute PR s***show.”.

One of our regular Detroit sources described May’s current demeanour as “paranoid”, stating “Derrick has no idea who keeps leaking information to people like Michael James and Ears To The House. It drives him mad. The only thing I do know is he’s feeling sorry for Drummer B right now.”.

All we can state on the subject of leaks is point to comments made by a White House advisor called Sidney Souers in 1957 – where he said “there are no leaks in Washington, only plants”. Similar sentiments can be expressed towards Detroit…