Jay Z sat down with Van Jones for a 12-minute interview to mark the premiere of CNN’s ‘The Van Jones Show.’
During their chat, Jay touched on his marriage (duh), Donald Trump, the #MeToo movement, and more.
via Complex:
“I believe everything happens for a reason,” Hov said when asked about the recent wave of sexual misconduct allegations. “Everything is a learning experience—you know, the good, the bad, the ugly. This had to happen to purge itself […] It has to happen. This movement and everything that’s going on and what we’re finding out, it’s like racism—it existed the whole time. It’s almost like we normalized it. It’s the normalization of the things we do to survive. For women to go to work knowing this sort of abuse was happening every day; because you can look and logically say, ‘Why would you stay there?’ [But] what’s the alternative? You have to survive in America.”
Jones later asked Jay about his two daughters and whether he was concerned for their safety in a world where sexual misconduct is rampant. Jay insisted he wasn’t worried.
“I’m hopeful for my daughters,” he explained. “The amount of information that we’ll give them and the amount of love, between those two things, they’ll be fine.”
Jones also asked Jay about Donald Trump’s alleged derogatory comments about African nations. The rapper said the reported “shithole” comment was “disappointing and hurtful.”
“Everyone feels anger, but after the anger it’s really hurtful because he’s looking down on a whole population of people and he’s so misinformed because these places have beautiful people,” he said.
But Jay insisted the comments weren’t surprising. He reminded Jones that this kind of racist rhetoric has been spewed for as long as he can remember.
The conversation also touched on Colin Kaepernick and his role in highlighting racial injustices in America. Jay said the former 49er shouldn’t worry about inking a new contract, as he now has a much more important purpose.
“Would you rather be playing football, getting your head dinged in, or would you rather be an iconic figure for the rest of your life?” Jay asked. “We confuse the idea of having a job with fulfilling your purpose.”
Check out a few clips from the episode below.
Jay-Z on Colin Kaepernick: "Would you rather be playing football getting your head dinged in or would you rather be an iconic figure for the rest of your life?" #VanJonesShow https://t.co/QBtOcXas1J https://t.co/6assfRY0Uw
— CNN (@CNN) January 28, 2018
Hip hop legend Jay-Z tells CNN's @VanJones68 that #MeToo "needed to be uncovered for the world to correct itself" #VanJonesShow https://t.co/3140xI6kNt https://t.co/t9IgKmO9DQ
— CNN (@CNN) January 28, 2018
Tonight, hip-hop star Jay-Z sits down with Van Jones to talk about Trump's "shithole countries" comment, the #MeToo movement and his marriage with singer Beyoncé. Tune in to the #VanJonesShow — starting now. https://t.co/viKxcbxUms pic.twitter.com/icH2SpgbEy
— CNN (@CNN) January 27, 2018
"For us, we chose to fight for our love." Jay-Z talks candidly about his determination to save his marriage with singer Beyoncé.
Van Jones kicks off his new show tonight with the hip-hop star. Tune in at 7pm ET #VanJonesShow https://t.co/wLq6GxxpVc pic.twitter.com/pX5NM4RU5L
— CNN (@CNN) January 27, 2018
