Jack White Criticizes Lady Gaga, But Then He Doesn’t

Lauded musician Jack White doesn’t much care for Lady Gaga, opining that the singer is “all artifice.”

In a recent interview with Esquire UK, White criticizes celebrity culture as a whole, arguing that celebrities often go out of their way to appear relatable, which inadvertently creates unfair expectations of what’s normal.

“The goal of modern celebrity is to make yourself into the lowest common denominator,” said White. “‘Hey, I’m a guy just like you. I like a beer, a football game.’ Especially in reality television, you’ll see people will go so far as to make a fool out of themselves just to prove that.”

For an example, White singled out Lady Gaga, pointing to her as an example of exactly what he sees as wrong with celebrity culture.

“I don’t think she lives it, because it’s all artifice,” he said. “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. They want a Twitter line, a jpeg, an MP3. I think the only people who should have [Twitter accounts] are comedians. Because it’s all about one-liners. You don’t want Gore Vidal telling you, ‘I’m doing my dishes right now.'”

White later clarified these remarks, reports MTV. In a written statement, White accused the press of altering his comments for the sake of drama.

“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’s clarification statement read in part. “I don’t like my comments about Lady Gaga’s presentation being changed into some sort of negative critique of her music. If you’re going to try to cause drama, at least get the quotes right.”

White didn’t take back any of his comments regarding celebrity culture but clarified any apparent personal criticisms of Lady Gaga.

White has been busy with his solo LP Blunderbuss, a tour, and various responsibilities at his Third Man Records studio in Nashville, Tennessee. White also said that he will “always miss the White Stripes,” his band with Meg White, which broke up in 2011.

Do you agree with Jack White? Is Lady Gaga “all artifice?”