*Spike Lee is speaking out about Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner’s controversial comments about why he decided to leave women and Black musicians out of his new book “The Masters.”
“It is just emblematic of how often Black people, brown people, colored people are overlooked for their genius, for their skill, hard work,” Lee told New Yorker editor David Remnick during the 2023 New Yorker Festival on Saturday, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Wenner told The New York Times that no female or Black artists were “articulate” enough to be included in his book of masterful musicians.
“Think about all of the people you left out,” Lee continued. “I mean Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, they didn’t invent rock ‘n’ roll.”
As THR reports, “The Masters” opens with Wenner saying that females and Black performers were not in his zeitgeist. In the Times interview, Wenner explained, “When I was referring to the zeitgeist, I was referring to Black performers, not to the female performers, OK? Just to get that accurate. The selection was not a deliberate selection. It was kind of intuitive over the years; it just fell together that way. The people had to meet a couple criteria, but it was just kind of my personal interest and love of them. Insofar as the women, just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.”
When The Times‘ David Marchese, suggested singer Joni Mitchell could have been included in “The Masters,” Wenner said, “It’s not that they’re not creative geniuses. It’s not that they’re inarticulate, although, go have a deep conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. Please, be my guest. You know, Joni was not a philosopher of rock ’n’ roll. She didn’t, in my mind, meet that test. Not by her work, not by other interviews she did. The people I interviewed were the kind of philosophers of rock. Of Black artists — you know, Stevie Wonder, genius, right? I suppose when you use a word as broad as ‘masters,’ the fault is using that word. Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they just didn’t articulate at that level.”
Wenner was removed from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation board of directors the day after the interview. He also apologized for his remarks.
“In my interview with The New York Times, I made comments that diminished the contributions, genius, and impact of Black and women artists and I apologize wholeheartedly for those remarks,” he said in a statement, per THR.
“The Masters is a collection of interviews I’ve done over the years that seemed to me to best represent an idea of rock ‘n’ roll’s impact on my world; they were not meant to represent the whole of music and its diverse and important originators but to reflect the high points of my career and interviews I felt illustrated the breadth and experience in that career. They don’t reflect my appreciation and admiration for myriad totemic, world-changing artists whose music and ideas I revere and will celebrate and promote as long as I live. I totally understand the inflammatory nature of badly chosen words and deeply apologize and accept the consequences,” Wenner continued.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
