Rolling Stone Co-Founder Jann Wenner Apologizes for Sexist, Racist Remarks

Jann Wenner, the co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine, issued an apology for saying that Black and female musicians were not intellectually “articulate” enough to be included in his new book—a mea culpa that comes hours after he was kicked off the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s board of directors. The decision to remove Wenner was made a day after his comments, which provoked a firestorm of criticism, were published in The New York Times as part of an interview pegged to his forthcoming book, a compilation of interviews called The Masters. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Wenner acknowledged he’d “made comments that diminished the contributions, genius, and impact” of Black people and women to music. “I totally understand the inflammatory nature of badly chosen words and deeply apologize and accept the consequences,” he said, explaining elsewhere in the statement that The Masters was not meant to encapsulate “the whole of music,” but rather be a reflection of “the high points of my career.”