Jack White defended former White Stripes bandmate and ex-wife Meg White, who was recently slammed for her drumming ability.
Earlier this week writer Lachlan Markay caused a stir when he called Meg a "terrible" drummer.
"The tragedy of The White Stripes is how great they would have been with a half decent drummer," he wrote in a now-deleted tweet cited by the Independent.
"Yeah, yeah I've heard all the 'but it's a carefully crafted sound mannnn!' takes. I'm sorry Meg White was terrible and no band is better for having s****y percussion," he added, according to the Independent.
Taking to Instagram, Jack White posted a poem in support of Meg White, along with a photo of her performing on a drums.
"To be born in another time, any era but our own would've been fine," the poem begins.
"100 years from now, 1000 years from now, some other distant, different, time. One without demons, cowards and vampires out for blood, one with the positive inspiration to foster what is good."
Numerous other friends and fans also jumped to defend Meg White, including Karen Elson, who was married to Jack White from 2005 to 2013.
"Not only is Meg White a fantastic drummer, Jack also said the White Stripes would be nothing without her," Elson tweeted. "To the journalist who dissed her, keep my ex husband's ex wife name out of your f***ing mouth."
Questlove also responded to the criticism in a tweet that included a screenshot of Markay's original post.
"I try to leave 'troll views' alone but this right here is out of line af," he wrote. "Actually what is wrong w music is people choking the life out of music like an Instagram filter — trying to reach a high of music perfection that doesn't even serve the song (or music)."
Markay on Thursday wrote a lengthy apology.
"It was an over-the-top take on TWS and White as a drummer, and was, let's face it, just truly awful in every way. Petty, obnoxious, just plain wrong," he said of his since-deleted tweet, according to the Independent.
"A lot of people have now weighed in, both on my nasty and totally unjustified tone, and on the merits, pointing out it's simply untrue. Guess what: they're right! It was a terrible, mean thing to say — and also just, you know, wrong — and I deeply regret saying it."
Markay then added a direct apology to Meg White.
"I am sorry. Really," he wrote, according to the Independent. "And to women in the music business generally, who I think are disproportionately subject to this sort of s***, I am sorry to have fed that as well. I'm really going to try to be more thoughtful in the future, both on here and off."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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