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Photo: Frazer Harrison/2011 Getty Images
This week Steven Tyler belatedly weighed in on American Idol’s present state, said Nicki Minaj would boot a talent like Bob Dylan, and got called a racist by Minaj. Here’s the semi-apology, delivered on Canadian TV: “I’m the last thing on this planet as far as being a racist. … I was just saying that if Bob Dylan came on the show, he would have been thrown off. Maybe I spoke out of turn. But a racist I’m not, Nicki.†But why is Idol being discussed as a place for Dylanesque talents?