Editorial: Jack White=Rated X (ex-wife blues)

300 MPH Editorial Outpour Blues By Logan Nichols

Jack White and a Wurlitzer 200A

So as some of you may know, last week Jack White got a restraining order prohibiting all contact from his most recent ex-wife, Karen Elson, except to negotiate the pickup and drop off of their children because Elson stated that he made her feel unsafe. On Friday, TMZ leaked a series of emails from July 16 between White, Elson’s lawyers, and company (excluding, of course, Karen’s half of the conversation) in which White is very angry regarding: the placement of his children into the same private school as Black Keys singer Dan Auerbach’s child, custody rights, and Elson’s insistence that the two go to mediation/therapy.

A slew of music publications are covering this event, blasting White for calling Auerbach an asshole in these emails and criticizing him for, as the emails read, “calling her five times in ten minutes” which was labeled “harassment.” While the couple was divorced in 2011, it’s easy to see frustration with these matters still not being solved.

While we at 37 flood would certainly never claim to have any sort of knowledge into the two’s personal lives and refuse to take a side in the matter, we have to ask ourselves “Who gives a shit?” Honestly. Everyone who’s ever had a divorce has sent an angry email, and while it is completely visible that White had made no threat to Elson or the kids, why is it any of our business?

Sure, we all had a shiver in 2010 when White released Elson’s first studio album The Ghost Who Walks on Third Man Records, but it was on pink –peach scented vinyl, so we went along with it because it smelled good and the girl can sing. That’s where our opinion ceases to matter, after we judge the album accordingly, because that’s the only part of their relationship that we’re entitled to have an opinion about. So there’s a bunch of articles out there made to paint Jack White as an asshole because he doesn’t like the Black Keys and he’s angry at his ex. The man just donated over $340,000 to convert the Library of Congress’ 8-track collection to digital media and keep the Masonic Temple in Detroit from being demolished. Seems like a pretty nice guy to me. But I don’t like the Black Keys either, so I may be a little biased.