Astrology can be a fun and wacky way to explain the world, but Erykah Badu might want to revisit what she excuses under the pretense of “I’m a Pisces.”
The R&B icon this week gave the kind of rarely candid celebrity interview that shows why so many famous people only speak publicly via social media. It was bold and interesting, but then Badu went and defended Hitler. Here is the segment, picking up after a question about her loose affiliation with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Badu: I’m also OK with anything I had to say about Louis Farrakhan. But I’m not an anti-Semitic person. I don’t even know what anti-Semitic was before I was called it. I’m a humanist. I see good in everybody. I saw something good in Hitler.
Vulture: Come again?
Badu: Yeah, I did. Hitler was a wonderful painter.
Vulture: No, he wasn’t! And even if he was, what would his skill as a painter have to do with any “good” in him?
Badu: OK, he was a terrible painter. Poor thing. He had a terrible childhood. That means that when I’m looking at my daughter, Mars, I could imagine her being in someone else’s home and being treated so poorly, and what that could spawn. I see things like that. I guess it’s just the Pisces in me.
She also defended Bill Cosby during the interview: “I love Bill Cosby, and I love what he’s done for the world. But if he’s sick, why would I be angry with him? The people who got hurt, I feel so bad for them. I want them to feel better, too. But sick people do evil things; hurt people hurt people.”
Let’s go to the reaction tweets:
https://twitter.com/mrjoshz/status/956196350554722304
Maybe those enraged about @fatbellybella Erykah Badu saying she could see “good in Hitler“ have a glimpse into how black people feel when America celebrates, erects monuments, names buildings, and celebrates holidays in honor of those who owned, raped and murdered our ancestors!
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) January 24, 2018
Maybe its the Pisces in me, but I don't see the outrage about what Erykah Badu said. Next case! *bangs gavel*
— Jasmine Grant (@jasminealyse) January 24, 2018
To Badu’s credit, she did land one fantastic zinger during the interview about how millennials listen to music.
https://twitter.com/XavierDLeau/status/956169596360327169
H/T Vulture