Italian techno producer Deborah de Luca is off the HARD Summer 2025 lineup poster amid a public dispute regarding the font size of her name on the bill.
Late last week, HARD Summer posted a revamped version of the 2025 lineup poster that does not feature de Luca’s name, as the original poster did. In the comments section of the post, when a fan asked where de Luca’s name was, the festival wrote that the producer “informed us she will no longer be playing the festival.” But the Italian techno producer responded to their comment, saying, “That’s not right! You put my name smaller than others. I asked you to change it and you didn’t want to do it. Now you changed it by deleting my name.”
She then made another comment saying that “I’m very sorry, guys! But they put my name smaller than others, it was not dignified for my career. I asked to change it and they told me no. It was not my choice. I’m very sad, but I’m sure it will be a crazy festival and you will have a lot of fun.”
The spot where de Luca’s name was on the original poster now features electronic foursome Ladies of Leisure. Sean Paul has also fallen off the poster, with the position where his name was in the original poster now occupied by Busta Rhymes. Other lineup additions include Barry Can’t Swim, Fcukers and DJ Gigola, whose names were all blurred out on the original poster for the festival, which happens August 2-3 at Hollywood Park at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
The comments section on the revamped poster is a mixed bag of feedback, with many fans lamenting on de Luca’s absence and others being less generous. Representatives for de Luca and HARD Summer did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
As previously reported by Billboard, while such font sizes may seem inconsequential, they are often the subject of intense negotiations between artists, managers and agents and event producers. As such, situations like this one between HARD and de Luca are not unheard of.
Speaking to Billboard in 2015, Governor’s Ball co-founder Jordan Wolowit told Billboard that he once “had a very legitimate act formally pull off the festival the day before our announce, because they hated their billing. My initial reaction was to tell them to piss off — respectfully — but, luckily, good judgment kicked in and I acquiesced to their wishes — which was to be moved three spots up from where they were. It was kind of hilarious, actually. From then on, I have had a line in my offers that clearly states billing is solely at my discretion.”
