Quincy Jones Apologizes for ‘Silly’ Interview Comments After ‘Family Intervention’

Producer now says that “bad-mouthing is inexcusable,” after bad-mouthing Taylor Swift, the Beatles and others

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Quincy Jones has issued an apology after recently giving interviews in which he trash-talked Taylor Swift and the Beatles, said he dated Ivanka Trump, and declared that Michael Jackson “stole a lot of songs.”

In a Twitter mea culpa published Thursday, the legendary producer said that “bad-mouthing is inexcusable,” and that he had “recently stopped drinking.”

Jones also said that his daughters held a “family intervention” a couple of weeks ago over the “silly things I’ve said.”

“I have LEARNED MY LESSON! Let me tell you, I’m so grateful for my daughters because they aren’t scared to stand up to their daddy. I am an imperfect human & I’m not afraid to say it. And I’m sorry & I’m not afraid to say it,” Jones wrote.

“When you’ve been fortunate enough to have lived such a long & crazy life (& you’ve recently stopped drinking — three years ago!), certain details about specific events (which do NOT give the full picture of my intentions nor experiences) certain details about specific events come flooding back all at once, & even at 85, it’s apparent that ‘word-vomit’ & bad-mouthing is inexcusable,” the producer continued. “One of the hardest things about this situation is that, this bad-mouthing has contradicted the very real messages I tried to relay about racism, inequality, homophobia, poverty … you name it. And of course I don’t want that. I have already reached out to my friends privately, but when you live a public life, you have a responsibility to be an example, & since I do lead a public life, I wanted to make a public apology.”

In an interview with GQ published in late January, Jones disparaged “Reputation” singer Taylor Swift, declaring, “We need more songs, man. F—ing songs, not hooks.”

A subsequent interview with Vulture found the producer trash-talking the Beatles, opining that they were “the worst musicians in the world” and writing them off as “no-playing motherf—ers.”

Read Jones’ full apology below.

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