Carrie Brownstein Compares Black Lips' Swilley to Roman Polanski

Carrie BrownsteinSleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein has a problem with the Black Lips bassist Jared Swilley's use of the word "f----t" in a recent statement. Swilley used the slur multiple times earlier this week when he gave his account of a fight he had with Nathan Williams of Wavves at a Brooklyn bar last Friday.

In an NPR blog post titled "Loving the Art But Not the Artist," Brownstein wrote, "You will find that many people have a problem with Silley's pervasive use of the word. I, for the record, have a problem with it, as well." She also takes aim at Roman Polanski in the wake of the news that the famed director was arrested in and could be extradited back to the US for charges of drugging and raping a 13 year old girl in 1977.

"Despite the wide gap in literal offensiveness between Polanski's actual crimes and Swilley's ugly words, some might toss out their Black Lips records and yet continue to watch 'Rosemary's Baby.' Why is that?" Brownstein wrote. "Perhaps it's easier to separate the art from the artist within the forgiving lens of hindsight. (It's a lot easier to forgive and forget if the artists lived and died well before our time.) And maybe we make exception for the supposed great ones, or those time-tested artists -- exceptions that we wouldn't make for those we consider our peers."

"There are also the ethical lines, based on our own histories and experiences, that each of us draws in the sand," she continued. "These lines, when crossed by our most cherished or worshipped artists, may result in an outright rejection of them. Or, if their mishap doesn't affect us personally, we might be able to overlook it. For others, and thus far I am among this group, I do find it relatively easy to separate art from artist. However, that is not to say that I don't think the artist should be held accountable. Swilley needs a dictionary, and to find a new insult, but Polanski's actions are indefensible."

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