John Mellencamp speaks out against antisemitism

U.S. singer-songwriter John Mellencamp took the opportunity while on stage Saturday night in Los Angeles for the 2022 Rock and Rock Hall of Fame induction ceremony to denounce antisemitism.

“I cannot tell you how f—ing important it is to speak out if you’re an artist against antisemitism,” the musician said while introducing Jewish music industry attorney Allen Grubman, who received the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

“I don’t give a f—, I don’t care [about people’s identity]. Here’s the trick: Silence is complicity. I’m standing here tonight loudly and proudly with Allen, his family and all of my Jewish friends and all of the Jewish people of the world."

Calling Grubman "a true mensch," Mellencamp noted that his longtime friend was Jewish, while saying that as a gentile (non-Jew), his "life has been enriched by countless Jewish people."

Mellencamp's remarks come amid a reckoning with antisemitism in the entertainment and professional sports industries as U.S. rapper Kanye West and NBA basketball star Kyrie Irving face backlash for promoting antisemitic stereotypes and tropes about Jews.

Adidas dropped West as a client and the Brooklyn Nets suspended Irving, with Nike also announcing the suspension of their partnership.

Mellencamp took to the Microsoft Theater stage again on Saturday night, but this time with fellow rocker Bruce Springsteen, for a musical tribute to rock pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, who died in October at 87.