Lenny Kravitz Clarifies His Comments About Black Entertainment Media Outlets

Lenny Kravitz is clarifying his comments.

The 59-year-old rocker issued a statement on social media following discourse surrounding his recent Esquire interview, in which he seemingly alluded to the fact that Black entertainment outlets haven’t given him much love throughout his career.

Keep reading to find out more…“It is important to me to set the record straight on recent media reports based on an interview I did,” he began.

“My Black musical heritage means a lot to me, and I owe my success to my supporters who have taken this journey with me over the span of my career. The comment I made was not about ‘Black media’ or the ‘Black community.’ I was specifically referring to Black award shows in particular,” he continued.

“My comment was meant to express a concern about ensuring that Black artists are being recognized for their work in what is now being called “non-traditional” Black music, which it is not.”

“Rock and roll is the music we were instrumental in creating and is a part of our history. We must retain our heritage and celebrate that together. BET and countless others have paved the way for this type of recognition. I hope that by sharing my concern a spotlight will be shone on this issue. Love and peace.”

Previously, in his Esquire story, he said: “To this day, I have not been invited to a BET thing or a Source Awards thing. And it’s like, here is a Black artist who has reintroduced many Black art forms, who has broken down barriers—just like those that came before me broke down. That is positive. And they don’t have anything to say about it?… I’m not here for the accolades. I’m here for the experience.”

He also addressed controversial comments by the founder of Rolling Stone.