Karen Elson defends Meg White: “Keep my ex-husband’s ex-wife name out your mouth”

Karen Elson – the ex-wife of Jack White – has chimed in on recent comments made on Twitter about Meg White’s drumming abilities.

Earlier this week, Twitter user Lachlan Markay sparked discourse by saying: “The tragedy of the White Stripes is how great they would’ve been with a half decent drummer. Yeah yeah I’ve heard all the ‘but it’s a carefully crafted sound mannnn!’ takes. I’m sorry Meg White was terrible and no band is better for having sh*tty percussion.” Markay has since deleted the tweet.

Elson is now the latest to back up Meg White, writing on Twitter: “Not only is Meg White a fantastic drummer, Jack [White] also said the White Stripes would be nothing without her. To the journalist who dissed her, keep my ex husband’s ex wife name out of your f*cking mouth. (Please and Thank You)

Not only is Meg White a fantastic drummer, Jack also said the White Stripes would be nothing without her. To the journalist who dissed her, keep my ex husband’s ex wife name out of your f*cking mouth.
(Please and Thank You) https://t.co/qnnxgT3Rxh

— Karen Elson (@KarenElson_) March 14, 2023

A number of prolific musicians stepped in to defend Meg White, with The Roots’ Questlove writing in response: “I try to leave ‘troll views’ alone but this right here is out of line af. Actually what is wrong w music is people choking the life out of music like an Instagram filter—trying to reach a high of music perfection that doesn’t even serve the song (or music).”

Other musicians who spoke in favour of White include Portishead‘s Geoff Barrow who said he believes Markay is “going to regret this tweet”. Unknown Mortal Orchestra‘s Ruban Nielson tweeted, adding to Barrow’s thread: “But we have multiple examples of [Jack White] playing with different drummers. i saw the white stripes play probably 10 times or something and there’s no one like meg white. kids would lose their mind to her drumming.”

By now you’ve probably seen an ill-advised (and since-deleted) tweet I sent out yesterday about the White Stripes and Meg White. It was an over-the-top take on TWS and White as a drummer, and was, let's face it, just truly awful in every way. Petty, obnoxious, just plain wrong.

— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) March 14, 2023

Lachlan Markay has since issued an apology for his tweet, calling it “truly awful in every way. Petty, obnoxious, just plain wrong.” Markey added in a thread that he regrets the remark, not because of the backlash he received, but because “I actually don’t really believe it! I love [The White Stripes], percussion included.”

So to Meg White: I am sorry. Really. And to women in the music business generally, who I think are disproportionately subject to this sort of shit, I am sorry to have fed that as well. I’m really going to try to be more thoughtful in the future, both on here and off.

— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) March 14, 2023

He wrote: “So to Meg White: I am sorry. Really. And to women in the music business generally, who I think are disproportionately subject to this sort of shit, I am sorry to have fed that as well. I’m really going to try to be more thoughtful in the future, both on here and off.

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