Skolnick posted a statement on Facebook
Rapper Kanye West was seen leaving a restaurant last Sunday wearing a Testament t-shirt, and the band's guitarist Alex Skolnick posted a comment on Facebook addressing the musician's choice of attire.
Skolnick referenced the trend of wearing metal band t-shirts, citing that Kourtney Kardashian was also seen wearing a Slayer t-shirt, and saying that these celebrities have no idea what bands they are.
After his comment made headlines on music websites, Skolnick posted a lengthy message on his official Facebook page, clarifying the issue. See the full text below:
"Then.
I posted a funny comment that was only meant for the friends who tagged me on Facebook. It wasn't meant to be an official statement, but now it's been seen and is becoming news. If I had been publicly questioned, I would have said something like, "I like hip-hop in general, and although I'm not a fan of Kanye West, I recognize that he is respected by many people in the music industry whom I respect."
Normally I would be flattered and appreciative, from one artist to another (those who know me outside of Testament know that I'm very open musically and work with artists from many genres). If Kanye knows and likes Testament – and isn't wearing our t-shirt as part of some bizarre current trend of Hollywood fashionistas wearing old metal t-shirts – that's great, respect.
However, I really doubt that's the case (but I'd love to be proven wrong). It's not the artist part that I have a problem with. I have a problem with the reality TV part, with the advertising addiction. Kanye can consider himself an artist, which I accept (although he's not an artist on the level of the guys he compares himself to, like Pablo Picasso? I don't understand)... But leaving art aside, the Kardashian clan (which he's part of by marriage) isn't making art. It's the cheapest form of entertainment, which turns people into brainless idiots and is slowly destroying our country, a country that has stooped to admiring the anti-intellectual, the denial of facts, the disbelief in science, the end of rationality, of critical thinking, and now no longer understands the difference between reality and reality TV (for example, electing a president who is a reality show star, someone Kanye is getting close to).
I feel that these offenses are so inexcusable that I can't accept that a major celebrity, whom I would nevertheless respect (at least musically), is wearing our t-shirt.
For those interested, here's the post I said was only for my friends: “Oh no, he didn't do that! Wait, no, he really did. My God. This whole decrepit clan must have grabbed these t-shirts from some pile (the same one Kourtney's Slayer t-shirt came from) and it became a fad (who would have thought?!). Unthinkable that any of these pop stars know who these bands are. My guess is that he thinks we're some kind of religious group (it wouldn't be the first time that's happened). That is, if he can even think, which seems unlikely to me. And I thought our time couldn't get any stranger.”
