Jann Wenner Has a Surprising Defender: Bob Dylan

Rolling Stone commenting on Jann Wenner, Sept. 18, 2023

Two months after Jann Wenner disgraced himself in an interview with sexist and racist remarks about Black and female artists, none other than Bob Dylan has come to his aid. Speaking at his concert at New York’s Beacon Theatre on Thursday night (November 16, 2023), Dylan said to the audience, “Jann Wenner is here tonight. He was kicked out of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We don’t like that. We’re trying to get him back in.” Dylan didn’t identify who “we” was. (The comment was first reported on by Roger Friedman of Showbiz 411, who was in the audience.) Dylan was referring to the Sept. 16 decision by the Rock Hall’s Foundation to remove him from its powerful Board of Directors. That decision came almost immediately after Wenner’s ill-fated interview with the New York Times, intended to help promote his new book of interviews with seven rock music giants—all of whom are white men—with the horribly ironic title The Masters. Dylan’s comments to the concert audience were somewhat inaccurate. While Wenner is no longer a member of the Hall of Fame’s Foundation, he is still a member of the Hall itself: He was inducted in 2004 via the institution’s Ahmet Ertegun Award, named for the Atlantic Records co-founder who created the original vision of the Rock Hall.

On Sept. 18, Wenner was essentially canceled by Rolling Stone, the magazine that he co-founded in 1967 and led to its once-mighty influence as the arbiter of cool music. As the backlash continued from Wenner’s sexist and racist remarks about black and female artists in his interview with the New York Times, Rolling Stone released a statement in a post on the social media network formally known as Twitter (and now calling itself “X”), that Wenner’s “recent statements… do not represent the values and practices of today’s Rolling Stone.” The magazine distanced itself from its longtime chief, noting in its Sept. 18, 2023, post that he “has not been directly involved in our operations since 2019,” adding, “At Rolling Stone‘s core is the understanding that music above all can bring us together, not divide us.”

An email sent to 92NY ticket holders on Sept. 20

Two days later, his book publisher cancelled all of his promotional events. On Sept. 20, an email was sent to ticket holders notifying them of the cancellation of a planned interview Wenner was to have with acclaimed director and former Stone writer Cameron Crowe. The email indicated the event, scheduled for months at New York’s prestigious 92NY on Oct. 18, was axed noting, “Wenner’s publishers have cancelled all his promotional events this fall.”

At the Rock Hall’s 2023 induction ceremony on November 3, new inductee Bernie Taupin said, “I’m honored to be in the class of 2023 alongside such a group of such profoundly ‘articulate’ women and outstanding ‘articulate’ Black artists, along with all of the other musical masters here tonight.”

In the Sept. 15 New York Times interview, conducted over the phone, Marchese, who worked briefly for Rolling Stone a decade ago, lobbed Wenner several softball questions. The 77-year-old not only swung-and-missed—repeatedly—he also managed to shoot himself in the foot with his responses, even when offered to clarify himself. Marchese asked him why the book’s seven interview subjects were all old, white men, while ignoring equally prominent women or people of color, citing Carole King, Stevie Wonder and Madonna, as examples, among many others.

The reporter, David Marchese asked him why the book’s seven interview subjects were all old, white men, while ignoring equally prominent women or people of color, citing Carole King, Stevie Wonder and Madonna, as examples, among many others.

“The people had to meet a couple criteria, but it was just kind of my personal interest and love of them,” was Wenner’s reply. “Insofar as the women, just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.” More of the interview is here.

The Masters? Really?

Other reactions to the comments made by Jann Wenner: The first artist of note to speak up was blues-rocker Joe Bonamassa, who won’t be eligible for nomination to the Rock Hall until 2025. When news broke of Wenner’s being removed from the Hall’s board, the guitarist wrote, “This man has done more to bring down the credibility of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame than anyone else. He has been punitive, elitist and frankly kept artists out of the hall over petty grudges and ego. [His ouster] is a good thing.”

On Sept. 17, Vernon Reid, the founder of the rock band Living Colour, and himself a Black man, wrote, “The Jann Wenner [New York Times] interview was astonishing in his level of contempt for Female, Black, & Brown (never even came up) artists, but not at all surprising. He literally states that he should have included a token (imo) Female & Black to blunt the criticism he’s currently getting.”

Living Colour posted a follow-up statement on Sept. 18. “We, the members of Living Colour, would like to address Jann Wenner’s recent apology for controversial statements made in support of his new
book.

“The very idea of a book called “The Masters” which blatantly omits the essential contributions of black, people of color and women to Rock & Pop Culture speaks to a much larger and more systemic problem. His New York Times interview statement that African American and female artists are not “articulate” enough to express themselves about their own work is absurd on its face.

“For someone who has chronicled the musical landscape for over 50 years, it is an insult to those of us who sit at the feet of these overlooked geniuses. To hear that he believes Stevie Wonder isn’t articulate enough to express his thoughts on any given subject is quite frankly, insulting. To hear that Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Tina Turner, or any of the many Woman artists that he chooses not to mention, are not worthy of the status of “Master”, smacks of sexist gatekeeping and exclusionary behavior.

“Mr. Werner’s apology only solidifies the idea. That his book is a reflection of his worldview suggests that it is narrow & small indeed.”

Rob Bowman, a professor and music journalist, who is reportedly a member of the Rock Hall’s nominating committee, lashed out at Wenner and the Hall itself in a Sept. 24 interview with the Toronto Sun. “I have never seen anyone be so foolish, so inflammatory and wrong-headed,” he said. “It’s really sad that in 2023 someone his age could say something that goes against everything.”

He continued: “All of the founding fathers of rock are black, starting in 1948 or ’49. Only when Elvis hits six or seven years later is there a white artist on the scene.

“Rock has always been about much more than white men playing guitar,” Bowman said. “Jann never knew much about soul and funk. He wasn’t interested, and that’s sad.”

Kathy Valentine, a 2021 Rock Hall inductee with the Go-Go’s, wrote on Sept. 16, “I’d take the articulate and intellectual words of Patti Smith over vapid, self-important, self-appointed arbiter of what is deserving of attention in rock Jann Wenner ANYTIME.”

Referring to the New York Times interview, singer-songwriter Janis Ian wrote, “Gee, guess I was never articulate enough for Jann. Guess Baez wasn’t. Certainly Liz Phair, Dolly Parton have no way with words…

“I was living in Mort Schuman’s (sic) apartment on 72nd Street and Riverside Drive when Rolling Stone began. A lot of artists and other entertainment industry people lived on the same block, and we all read Crawdaddy and RS. To me, Crawdaddy was like reading the NY Times, and RS like reading the old NY Post. Still, there were good writers, interesting reviews, and since almost no one else gave female songwriters or female artists in general much play, I wasn’t surprised.

“I enjoyed a lot of it when it began, but some years later a friend who worked there told us ‘All Jann cares about now is landing the Volkswagen account. Forget it.’ Money and being allowed to hang with ‘the boys’ were the important things, I suppose.

“This article explains a lot.”

Jann Wenner in Rolling Stone‘s early days

Another interview, scheduled for Sept. 28 at the Montclair (NJ) Literary Festival, was canceled within hours of Wenner’s remarks to the Times.

Wenner tried to walk back his comments about Black and female artists being inarticulate. In a statement issued late on Sept. 16 by Little, Brown, he wrote, in part, “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.”

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