Jann Wenner shoots himself in the foot with his own canon
have impact: he was the founder of Rolling Stone. And on Friday, the New York Times published an incredible interview with him.The subject of the interview was Wenner’s new book, “The Masters,” which consists of long-ranging conversations between Wenner and the musicians he finds to be giants in their field, plucked from several decades of Wenner’s tenure at Rolling Stone. Luminaries like Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Jerry Garcia.
“Insofar as the women,” Wenner responded, “just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.” It was truly disappointing to read Wenner recycling the tired, harmful idea that including a Black woman in a list celebrating excellence would only be to appease woke crowds, rather than because she deserves to be there.It was truly baffling to read him explaining that women artists were simply not articulate.And as a journalist, the most noteworthy part of all of this was the fact that it didn’t seem to occur to him that maybe it’s him, he’s the problem.