disrespect the classics

Bob Dylan Is Campaigning to Reinstate Jann Wenner

Photo-Illustration: Vulture ; Photos: Getty Images

Well, what did you expect from one of the seven masters? Bob Dylan has seemingly taken over the role as crisis manager for Jann Wenner, telling the crowd at his November 16 concert that he intends to get Wenner one of his old jobs back. “All right, I’d like to say hello to Jann Wenner who’s in the house. Jann Wenner, surely everybody’s heard of him,†he said from the Beacon Theatre stage, according to audio clips. “Anyway, he just got booted out of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and we don’t think that’s right. We’re trying to get him back in.†In September, Wenner was removed from the board of directors at the institution, which he co-founded years after establishing Rolling Stone, due to derogatory comments about Black and female artists. When asked in a New York Times interview why the subjects in his new book, The Masters, only included white men, Wenner said other artists weren’t “articulate enough†to be at their level. (Dylan is among the book’s interviewees, which also includes the likes of Pete Townshend, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen.) While Bernie Taupin and Cyndi Lauper have rebuked Wenner, Dylan’s remark is the first instance of a friend’s public support. So … how does it feel, how does it feel?

Bob Dylan Is Campaigning to Reinstate Jann Wenner