NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� who co-founded Rolling Stone magazine and also was a co-founder of the has been removed from the hall's board of directors after making comments that were seen as disparaging toward Black and female musicians. He apologized within hours.
鈥淛ann Wenner has been removed from the Board of Directors of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation,鈥� the hall said Saturday, a day after Wenner's comments were published in a New York Times interview.
Wenner created a firestorm doing publicity for his new book 鈥淭he Masters,鈥� which features interviews with musicians Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend and U2鈥檚 Bono 鈥� all white and male.
Asked why he didn't interview women or Black musicians, Wenner responded: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that they鈥檙e inarticulate, although, go have a deep conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. Please, be my guest. You know, Joni (Mitchell) was not a philosopher of rock 鈥檔鈥� roll. She didn鈥檛, in my mind, meet that test,鈥� he told the Times.
"Of Black artists 鈥� you know, Stevie Wonder, genius, right? I suppose when you use a word as broad as 鈥榤asters,鈥� the fault is using that word. Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they just didn鈥檛 articulate at that level,鈥� Wenner said.
Late Saturday, Wenner apologized through his publisher, Little, Brown and Company, saying: 鈥淚n 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 added: 鈥淚 totally understand the inflammatory nature and badly chosen words and deeply apologize and accept the consequences.鈥�
Wenner co-founded Rolling Stone in 1967 and served as its editor or editorial director until 2019. He also co-founded the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which was launched in 1987.
In the interview, Wenner seemed to acknowledge he would face a backlash. 鈥淛ust for public relations sake, maybe I should have gone and found one Black and one woman artist to include here that didn鈥檛 measure up to that same historical standard, just to avert this kind of criticism."
Last year, Rolling Stone magazine published its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and ranked Gaye's 鈥淲hat's Going On鈥� No. 1, 鈥淏lue鈥� by Mitchell at No. 3, Wonder's 鈥淪ongs in the Key of Life鈥� at No. 4, 鈥淧urple Rain鈥� by Prince and the Revolution at No. 8 and Ms. Lauryn Hill's 鈥淭he Miseducation of Lauryn Hill鈥� at No. 10.
Rolling Stone鈥檚 niche in magazines was an outgrowth of Wenner鈥檚 outsized interests, a mixture of authoritative music and cultural coverage with tough investigative reporting.
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Mark Kennedy is at
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
