Third Man Records Responds To Latest ‘Jack White Click Bait’

Journalists and what he calls the “age of instantaneous negative internet gratification” have apparently been getting on White’s nerves lately. Third Man Records’ statement – which was posted on Facebook and comes to us “from the desk of The Third Man Council For Internet Regulation and Journalistic Integrity” – began by summing up the past year’s “game of click bait bingo with Jack White,” including the guacamole recipe incident and his recent comments about the streaming service Tidal.   

Third Man Records decided to address the Vault Q&A controversy after the press began “suggesting Jack is going to retire, Jack will never play festivals, Jack won’t speak to Meg, etc ad nauseum.”

First of all, TMR assures fans that White was not making “an existential cry to the abyss for attention” when he said he didn’t belong here. That was a joke about being in the chat room.

Is White really considering never touring again? TMR writes, “He never said that, but he IS taking a long break from the road (which was previously announced and discussed drama free over a month ago). He said he’d like to do acoustic shows in sit down venues and electric shows in standing venues. He said he doesn’t like festivals but hey, he does them anyway and he makes them work. Bonnaroo and Coachella were two of the greatest shows he’s ever been a part of (hell, we released his Bonnaroo set as a Vault release cause we loved it so much). He is not quitting music. He’s working with the Dead Weather next week, he’s involved in several projects we’re not even gonna tell you about right now cause we don’t want to ruin the surprise. Oh yeah!”

And what about Meg White not answering his phone calls?

“She doesn’t have to answer her phone,” TMR writes. “He’s not even complaining about that nor is it depressing. The White Stripes is over and it’s been said a hundred times, and maybe that’s just the quickest way for him to answer that question he gets asked a dozen times a day. Jack loves Meg, and she’s an incredible drummer – nobody can do what she does and did with the White Stripes – but those days are unfortunately gone. Let’s move on, Jack and Meg have. And in the meantime we’re still selling their records (WINK!).”

As for questions folks may have regarding Jack White and Tidal, TMR says the bottom line is, “Jack is for artists and Third Man does what we can when we can to help them out. That’s our heart and soul right there. Whether it’s printing obscure records or trying to get struggling musicians paid in some way, or bringing attention to writers and poets and film that we love and respect that’s what we’ll always be for.”

Third Man Records signs off by saying the label needs “to get back to inventing a turntable that runs purely on tweet retractions and apologies.”