Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash said in a new Yahoo interview that when the #MeToo movement of sexual misconduct allegations started last year, he thought many musicians could be implicated, but for unjust reasons.
When asked about whether GNR’s catalog has aged well in the current political climate, the band’s guitarist, Slash, actually seems a little surprised that it would even be an issue.
“I’ve never thought of that. It’s never crossed my mind,” he says contemplatively. “I mean, I think when the #MeToo thing really blew up, the thought crossed my mind of a bunch of musicians, not particular ones, but just musicians [who might be implicated]. But for the most part, as far as all the ones I know, it wasn’t like that. We didn’t have that particular [predatory] relationship with girls. It was a lot more the other way around, in some cases! Anyway, so some of the songs and all that were sort of sexist in their own way, but not to be taken that seriously. I don’t think they were malicious or anything.”
Slash was asked about the #MeToo sexual misconduct movement and it’s involvement in rock music in a new Classic Rock Magazine interview. The interviewer references a discredited June 2018 accusation against Maynard James Keenan, which he denied, and Alternative Nation was able to debunk an accuser via email. It’s unclear if the interview may have taken place before the information debunking the claim came out. Below is an excerpt from the article:
The day before our interview, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan’s reputation was on trial on Twitter: a woman had anonymously claimed that the singer had raped her when she was seventeen. Has the #MeToo movement affected the music business? “It’s a good question,” he says. “I think the Me Too movement is definitely justified – it’s actually way overdue.” But obviously, he says, it’s complicated “in the context of being in a fucking rock and roll band. Fortunately, I’m taken, so I’m not dealing with all that, but I have to admit there were times I looked into my past and [as if he’s talking to himself]: ‘Well that was consensual.'” “I never had a working relationship with anybody that I was, you know, trying to pressure into having sex or anything.” “The problem is that you could be falsely accused of something, but it almost doesn’t matter – it’s out there. Even if you were to get your name cleared, the damage is already done. And that’s pretty sad.”
