The former White Stripes frontman explains that the recipe was his tour manager's and everything listed on the tour rider was for his touring crew.
- Feb 16, 2015
AceShowbiz - Jack White wants everyone to stop talking about his tour rider that leaked earlier this month along with his contract to perform at the University of Oklahoma. The former frontman of The White Stripes has released a lengthy open letter in which he blasted media for still reporting the requests listed on the rider.
White particularly took issue with NPR which recently published an article on its website about his guacamole recipe. On Sunday February 15, he sent out the letter titled "FOR GOD SAKES!" via his Third Man Record website to "journalists and other people looking for drama or a diva."
"Even in the age of the short attention span internet article, it's still hard to believe you are STILL writing about this," he said, referring to the NPR article. "Wow. Classy." He went on explaining several things, including who actually owns the recipe and why he bans banana from his shows.
"First off, this is none of your business," he wrote. "I know I could ask for lots of things but I actually don't ask for ANYTHING. I take with me what I need, and that ain't much Anything on the rider is for the band and the crew."
White then revealed that the guacamole recipe wasn't even his. It's "[his] hilarious tour manager's inside joke with the local promoters." He explained, "It's his recipe, not mine. It's just something to break up the boredom, seeing who can make it best. though I wouldn't know because I've never had it. I can't even make kool aid let alone cook any real food enough to have a 'recipe.' Sorry, I don't have that talent."
Of the "no banana policy," he said, "Did it occur to anyone someone on the tour might have an allergy to them? No? Hmmm. One day some fantasy journalist out there will call someone in the biz and actually have a rider explained to them, maybe none of them have ever been on tour."
In the letter, White also made it clear that he never blacklisted University of Oklahoma despite the fact that the school's newspaper was the one that leaked his rider and contract. "Someone printed that I'm never going to Oklahoma again? Not true. I love Oklahoma, that's why i booked this show instead of playing Chicago or Atlanta for four times as much money," he said.
"Am I pissed at the students at Oklahoma University? Absolutely not. Am I disappointed in young journalists at their school paper? Absolutely. But I forgive them, they're young and have learned their lesson about truth and ethics hopefully. All they have to do is google this to know that it's not worth it," he added.
