(Washington) Rolling Stone magazine co-founder Jann Wenner was ousted from his seat on the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the American pantheon of rock and pop music, after comments he made that were deemed sexist and were considered racist. Variety magazine reported this on Saturday.
Published at 12:20 am.
“Jann Wenner has been removed from the board of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation,” the foundation announced in a terse statement, according to Variety.
The 77-year-old Mr. Wenner’s downfall comes the day after the publication of an interview with The New York Times that drew widespread criticism.
When asked by the daily newspaper why no female musicians or musicians of color appear in his next book, “The Masters,” which will be published on September 26 and contains interviews with seven musicians: Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Bono, Jerry Garcia , Bruce Springsteen and Pete Townshend – about women he replied: “None of them have expressed themselves in a sufficiently intellectually structured way.”
“It’s not that they aren’t creative geniuses. It’s not that they aren’t eloquent, but try having a long conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin […]. You know, Joni [Mitchell] wasn’t a rock ‘n’ roll philosopher. In my opinion it did not meet this criterion. Neither through her work nor through the other interviews she has given. The people I interviewed were rock philosophers,” he added.
As for black artists: “You know, Stevie Wonder, a genius, right? I think the mistake lies in using such a strong term like “master”. Maybe Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they didn’t express themselves at that level.”
“Look at what Pete Townshend or Jagger or any of them wrote,” he continued. “They wrote profound things about a certain generation, a certain spirit and a certain attitude towards rock and roll.”
In that interview with the NYT, Mr. Wenner said he was aware that his comments would be displeasing to some. “For public relations reasons, perhaps I should have included a black artist and a female artist who do not meet this historical standard, just to avoid criticism.”
“I had the opportunity to do it. Maybe I’m old fashioned and don’t care. In hindsight, I wish I could have interviewed Marvin Gaye. He could have been the man for the job. Maybe if Otis Redding had survived he would have been the right man for the job,” he said.
Mr. Wenner co-founded Rolling Stone in 1967 and left in 2019. He also founded the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and served as its chairman until 2020.