Jack White on Lady Gaga Feud: Wasn't Criticizing Her Music -- Just Her Image

Posted on Dec 5th 2012 3:00PM by Jason MacNeil
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Jack White made headlines last week for what appeared to be a slight towards pop star Lady Gaga in an Esquire interview. But in a post today on the Third Man Records site and his official site, White offered his thoughts on the controversy his statements created.

"I'd like to address the recent tabloidesque drama baiting by the press in regards to Lady Gaga," White said. "I never said anything about her music, or questioned the authenticity of her songs in any way. I was in a conversation about the drawbacks of image for the sake of image, and that it is popular nowadays to not question an image in front of you, but only to label it as 'cool' or 'weird' quickly and dispose of it."

White also took aim at how his comments were taken out of context before chastising a certain British publication.

"I don't like my comments about Lady Gaga's presentation being changed into some sort of negative criticism of her music," he continued. "If you're going to try to cause drama, at least get the quotes right. I think journalists should also be held accountable for what they say. Especially publications like the NME who put whatever words they feel like between two quotation marks and play it off as a quote."

The quotes which Esquire released which caused headlines were as follows:

"I don't think she lives it because it's all artifice. It's all image with no meaning behind it. You can't sink your teeth into it. It's a sound bite. It's very of this age, because that's what people want."

In his own statement today White said perhaps lawyers should take journalists "to task, but i'll just use the Internet and Twitter instead" before adding the "tabloid drama" is a catalyst for musicians to not open up to the press, instead giving "polite soundbites that don't stimulate thought about creativity and the consumption of art in its many guises."

White concluded the state by giving kudos to Lady Gaga and congratulating her for the "championing of gay rights issues and the momentum it's given to help create change."

As for Lady Gaga, she made no comment on the quotes last week nor on White's latest statement.

White, who released his latest studio album Blunderbuss earlier this year, has two shows left in 2012, including a Dec. 7 show in Oakland. Two nights later he'll be in Los Angeles as part of the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

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