Outspoken R&B star Erykah Badu has sparked controversy online by confessing she saw something “good” in vile Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
The architect of World War Two and the Holocaust remains one of history’s greatest villains, but the singer tells Vulture he wasn’t all bad, and the Internet has lit up with critics taking aim at Erykah.
Speaking about her humanist beliefs and her commitment to “see all sides simultaneously”, Badu told the magazine, “I saw something good in Hitler… Hitler was a wonderful painter.”
Challenged about her comment, she quickly added, “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.”
Her Hitler remarks came after the Vulture interviewer, David Marchese, asked Badu about claims she hates Jews.
“I’m not an anti-Semitic person,” she said. “I (didn’t) even know what anti-Semitic was before I was called it. I’m a humanist. I see good in everybody… I know I don’t have the most popular opinion sometimes.”
Badu has since tweeted the Vulture article, adding the caption: “@vulture x @david_marchese conversation with Badu. Or THE JEW and Badu?”
The On & On hitmaker also was asked about her feelings towards the likes of Louis C.K. and Bill Cosby following accusations of sexual misconduct and rape.
“I would have to really think about it and know the facts in each of those situations before I made a judgment,” the controversial singer said. “Because 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?”
“Hurt people hurt people,” she continued. “I know I could be crucified for saying that, because I’m supposed to be on the purple team or the green team. I’m not trying to rebel against what everybody’s saying, but maybe I want to measure it.”
