Erykah Badu is facing backlash after making controversial comments about Adolf Hitler and Bill Cosby.
In an interview with Vulture published on Wednesday, January 24, the “On & On” singer opened up about how she sees the good in everybody.
“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,” she explained. When asked to clarify Badu added, “Yeah, I did. Hitler was a wonderful painter.”
She continued, “Okay, 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.”
The singer-songwriter has three children: 20-year-old son Seven with André 3000 of OutKast, 13-year-old daughter Puma with West Coast rapper The D.O.C. and 8-year-old daughter Mars with boyfriend Jay Electronica.
Badu also said she loves Cosby, who has been accused of sexual assault by dozens of women, for “what he’s done for the world.”
“I weigh everything. Even what you just asked me, I would have to really think about it and know the facts in each of those situations before I made a judgment. Because I love Bill Cosby, and I love what he’s done for the world,” Badu said. “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.”
Social media users were quick to comment on Badu’s interview.
“Now I love me some Erykah Badu but there’s nothing wrong with holding people accountable. There’s a huge difference between seeing the humanity in Hitler and painting him as a victim of an unfortunate upbringing, thus placing him in the category of tormented victim,” one user wrote.
Another user tweeted, “This Erykah Badu interview is a mess. Erykah said so much weird s—t all throughout about Bill Cosby but to top it off she said she is a humanist and therefore sees the good in Hitler. Erykah even said Hitler was once a child and also good painter.”
