Wednesday, March 21, 2012 6:00am ET by  
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Jack White blasts judgemental effect of TV talent shows

Jack White has blamed the TV talent show culture for creating a judgemental effect on society. 

The former White Stripes frontman, who releases his debut solo album, 'Blunderbuss,' next month, described the behaviour of TV personalities like Simon Cowell and Gordon Ramsay as 'judgemental,' 'harsh' and 'vicious' in an interview with BBC’s Newsnight aired last night.

Referring to the cut-throat nature of the genre, White said: “Kick him off the island, she can’t sing – all that kind of judgement, which I think people are doing as families now which is kind of disgusting.

“I think you teach a kid to go to school and not judge other people like that but it’s OK if they're on television? I don’t really think that’s very interesting."

However, the 36-year-old, who is set to appear at BBC Radio1’s Hackney Weekend in June, said he still likes the fact that variety has made its way back onto the screen:

“I like the idea that talent, like old variety shows, showcase talent. You’d have a widespread of dancers, circus acts, performers, trapeze people, jugglers, that’s really interesting that they’re putting that kind of talent on TV again.

“But to judge people to say that they can’t sing and that they can’t dance, I don’t think that should be a family get-together.”

 

 

 

Watch Jack White perform on Saturday Night Live below: