Jann Wenner Rolling Stone founder was kicked out from Rock Hall

Jann Wenner, co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine, has been removed from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s board after facing widespread criticism for comments he made in a New York Times interview published Friday about female and Black musicians.

“Jann Wenner has been removed from the board of directors of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation,” a representative for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation told CNN in a statement on Sunday.

Wenner spoke with the Times about his upcoming book “The Masters,” which features interviews he conducted with artists such as John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger and others while at the helm of Rolling Stone.

He also said that Black performers of the time were not “in the zeitgeist”.

“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,” Wenner said. “Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they just didn’t articulate at that level.”

Jann Wenner has sought to undo the resulting damage through a series of apologies over the weekend, including one through his publisher, Little, Brown and Company, in which he said: “I apologize wholeheartedly for those remarks.”

He added that his choice of interviews included in the book “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.”

In the interview, Wenner seemed to acknowledge he would face a backlash. “Just for public relations sake, maybe I should have gone and found one Black and one woman artist to include here that didn’t 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 “What’s Going On” No. 1, “Blue” by Mitchell at No. 3, Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” at No. 4, “Purple Rain” by Prince and the Revolution at No. 8 and Ms. Lauryn Hill’s “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” at No. 10.

Rolling Stone’s niche in magazines was an outgrowth of Wenner’s outsized interests, a mixture of authoritative music and cultural coverage with tough investigative reporting.

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Sarah H

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