WARNER CHAPPELL PARTS WAYS WITH
JW LUCAS

Producer JW Lucas recently made a series of unfortunate statements on social media—notably accusations about the late Breonna Taylor that seemed to equivocate on the injustice of her killing at the hands of police. Warner Chappell Music has now decided to part ways with him. “We won’t be working with JW Lucas going forward,” said a spokesperson.

Lucas, who is white, has worked with such artists as Lil Uzi Vert, Pop Smoke and DaBaby; after his remarks about Taylor, he further exacerbated the situation by claiming he’d make a better leader of the Black Lives Matter movement than activist Tamika Mallory. These inflammatory statements caused many to suggest that he should no longer profit from black artists or black consumers. (Lucas subsequently issued a low-key apology to Taylor’s family, which was largely felt to be too little, too late.)

We’ve heard that some very thoughtful conversations preceded WCM’s decision in this matter. Recent events have underscored the importance of keeping everyone in our community as safe as possible—and this sort of intolerant rhetoric has no place.