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Richard Pryor slept with Marlon Brando.
Michael Jackson stole “a lot of songs.”
The Beatles were the “worst musicians” in the world.
Whatever off the wall thing you can think of, Quincy Jones said it about pop culture icons in a string of recent interviews, particularly for GQ and Vulture. And while his comments left a lot of people talking and entertained on social media, it pissed off plenty of people as well, particularly the families of the likes of Pryor and Jackson. It also alarmed his six daughters, Rashida, Kidada, Jolie, Kenya, Martina and Rachel. According to him, they all got together with the 85-year-old music legend for a “family intervention” and basically told him he was doing the absolute most. That’s why he’s offering up an apology today for his recent statements on Twitter.
“I’m so grateful for my daughters because they aren’t scared to stand up to their daddy,” he said in his letter. “I am an imperfect human & I’m not afraid to say it. And I’m sorry & I’m not afraid to say it.”
Jones pointed out that the older he gets, the more his experiences and certain events in his life come back to him and out of his mouth in ways that clearly aren’t so harmless. While he didn’t deny any of the claims he’s made, he is sorry about the way he went about sharing them.
“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 paint the full picture of my intentions nor experiences) come flooding back all at once,” he said, “& even at 85, it’s apparent that ‘wordvomit’ & bad-mouthing is inexcusable.”
Aside from apologizing to his family and his fans for his recent commentary, he, of course, was sorry for things he’d said about his famous friends from the past and present.
“I’m sorry to anyone whom my words offended & I’m especially sorry to my friends who are still here with me & to those who aren’t,” he said. “These friends are like blood family to me. To my dear family & friends…thank you for your grace. Thank you for calling me out when I’ve clearly made a mistake…many mistakes.”
This isn’t the first time Jones’s daughters have had to have a “family intervention” on him. In that aforementioned GQ interview, he said they said they had some thoughts on his dating habits. They couldn’t stop him from having 22 girlfriends, but they could shame him into staying between the age range of 28 and 42 — their ages.
“Well, my daughters gave me new numbers, because they kept saying, ‘Dad, you can’t go out with girls younger than us,'” he said. “I said, ‘Y’all are not young anymore.…’ So the new numbers are 28 to 42. They gave them to me.”
