Bob Dylan Defends Jann Wenner, Wants Rolling Stone Founder Back On R&R Hall Of Fame Board
deadline.comBob Dylan went public with his support for disgraced Rolling Stone founder and ex-editor Jann Wenner last night, telling an audience at New York City’s Beacon Theatre that he wants Wenner “back in” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Wenner, a founder and longtime major force behind the Hall of Fame, was voted off the Board of Directors in September after his comments in a New York Times interview were widely deemed racist and sexist.
During last night’s show at the Upper West Side venue, Dylan gave a shout-out to Wenner before expressing his thoughts on the ouster. “All right, l’d like to say hello to Jann Wenner, who’s in the house,” Dylan said (listen to a recorded clip posted on the Dylan.FM Podcast below). “Jann Wenner, surely everybody’s heard of him.
Anyway, he just got booted out of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame – and we don’t think that’s right. We’re trying to get him back in.” Wenner, who remains a Hall of Fame inductee (he was installed in 2004), was promoting his new collection of classic Rolling Stone interviews The Masters when he was asked by The Times‘ David Marchese why the book’s seven Q&As all featured white men. “The people had to meet a couple criteria,” Wenner said, “but it was just kind of my personal interest and love of them.
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