The Board of Directors for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has removed Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner from the foundation due to his recent interview with The New York Times. Wenner told the outlet that he only featured white men in his new book, The Masters, because female artists weren’t “articulate enough” to merit inclusion. The book catalogs conversations he’s had with seven artists whom he describes as “the philosophers of rock.” They include Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, and Bono.
After backlash to The Times piece, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame put out the following press release: “Jann Wenner has been removed from the Board of Directors of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.” They provided no further details on the decision.
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Jann Wenner On “The Howard Stern Show”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 03: Co-founder of Rollin Stone magazine Jann. Wenner visits SiriusXM’s ‘The Howard Stern Show’ at SiriusXM Studios on October 03, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
As for exactly what Wenner said, he told The Times’ David Marchese: “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 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.” Speaking further on Black artists specifically, Wenner said: “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.”
After his removal from the Hall of Fame was announced, Wenner released a statement apologizing for his comments. “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 part.
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