Jann Wenner Removed from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Board After Controversial Comments About Black and Female Musicians Most Popular Must Reads Sign up for more diverse newsletters from our brands

A day after the publication of a New York Times interview in which Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Weiner said black and female musicians “aren’t held to the same level” as the white musicians featured in her new interview book, “The Masters” “. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that he had been removed from its board of directors.

“Jan Wenner has been removed from the Board of Directors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation,” a representative’s brief statement reads in full. contacted by Diversity, Hall’s representative had no further comment.

Weiner is a co-founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was launched in 1987, and served as its president until 2020. The Rock Hall Foundation and the museum have separate boards, but Weiner was not on the latter.

Wenner’s representatives did not immediately respond. DiversityRequest for comment.

These comments came when Times writer Dave Marchese asked why Weiner did not include any people of color or female musicians in “The Masters,” which includes white musicians including Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Bruce , includes interviews with male musicians. Springsteen, Pete Townshend and U2’s Bono were all long celebrated by Rolling Stone when it was under Weiner’s editorial direction.

“It’s not that they aren’t creative geniuses. Not that they’re obscure, though, like having an in-depth conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. Please, be my guest. You know, Johnny [Mitchell] Wasn’t a philosopher of rock ‘n’ roll. In my opinion she did not meet that criteria. Not from his work, not from his other interviews. The people I interviewed were like philosophers of rock,” Weiner said. “About black artists – you know, Stevie Wonder, genius, right? I believe when you use a broad term like ‘masters,’ the fault lies in using that term. Maybe Marvin Gaye, Or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, he didn’t clarify anything at that level.

“I mean, look at what Pete Townshend was writing about, or Jagger, or any of them,” he continued. “They were deep things about a particular generation, a particular spirit and a particular view of rock ‘n’ roll. Not that there weren’t others, but these were the ones that could really articulate it.”

Weiner, who founded Rolling Stone in 1967 and served as its editor or editorial director until 2019, said he could have reconsidered his decision and “just for the sake of public relations, maybe I should have gone and hired a black And a female artist should have been found” To avoid this type of criticism, include this one here that doesn’t live up to the same historical standard. Which, I get it. I got a chance to do this. Maybe I’m old fashioned and I don’t give a fuck [expletive] or whatever. I wish, looking back, I could have interviewed Marvin Gaye. He might have been a boy. Perhaps Otis Redding, if he were alive, would have been that person.

In the interview, Weiner also made several controversial comments about his own editorial policies, admitting that he had allowed his interview subjects to edit the transcripts of his interviews before publication, including one with John Lennon. Also included was an explosive interview from the 1970s.

Weiner resigned from Rolling Stone in 2019, a few months after the publication was fully acquired by Penske Media Corporation. In December 2017, PMC acquired a controlling stake in Rolling Stone’s parent company Wenner Media at a valuation of more than $100 million, according to sources familiar with the transaction. He remains editorial director of Weiner Media. PMC is also the parent company of Diversity.