Deborah De Luca Pulls Out of HARD Summer: “You Put My Name Smaller than Others”

Fans are divided on whether Deborah De Luca was right to cancel her HARD Summer performance over the lineup font size.

Yesterday, Inglewood, California festival HARD Summer announced its 2025 lineup. But organizers had to update it shortly thereafter as Deborah De Luca will no longer perform there following a dispute over the font size used to display her name on the lineup graphic.

In a now deleted comment thread on HARD’s Instagram post, a fan noted De Luca’s absence on the most recent lineup graphic. “The artist informed us she will no longer be playing the festival,” wrote the HARD account in a reply.

“That’s not right!” De Luca wrote in a comment of her own. “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.”

In a subsequent reply, De Luca wrote: “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. Not it was my choice.”

In the original graphic, the name Deborah De Luca appeared in the upper-left corner in a neon-blue bubble — the same size as artists like Walker & Royce, Peekaboo, and Overmono. In the updated version, it has been replaced by local act Ladies of Leisure.

A number of fans have spoken out in support of De Luca. “No shade, but Deborah did deserve a larger font size due to her worldwide fanbase not localized to the US like other DJs on the lineup,” reads one Instagram comment. Deborah De Luca boasts 3 million followers on Instagram — more than artists such as Loco Dice, The Blessed Madonna, and Kaytranada who were displayed on the next-largest font size.

Others argue that De Luca herself is at fault. “Give me a break!” reads another comment. “Her name was the same size as Floating Points, who’s actually incredible.”

HARD Summer did not immediately respond to EDM Identity’s request for comment on the matter.