“‘Django Unchained’ is a powerful story and incredibly entertaining movie,” said record executive L.A. Reid to the New York Post about his thoughts on controversial film. “The performances are all stellar, particularly Leo DiCaprio’s and Samuel L. Jackson’s . . . Jamie Foxx was also very strong… One criticism: Although the N-word was unfortunately used liberally during the time the film depicted, I felt Q.T. should have approached the use of the word more sensitively and used it a lot less . . . It’s a painful part of America’s history and still an open wound.”
Reid’s comments on the ‘n’ word come as quite as shock as the former Chairman of CEO of Def Jam often supported the label’s artists who often used the word including Nas who was set to release a “Nigger” album in 2007 but later changed it to “Untitled” after retail outlets such as Walmart refused to carry the album. Reid publicly defended Nas’ freedom of expression.
“We support everything our artists do, everything!” said Reid to MTV in 2007 “We stand firmly behind and beside our artists with pride and with pleasure. Anything Nas wants to do, I completely stand beside him. Nas is prolific, he’s prophetic, he’s a genius, an amazing artist of respect. So, while I’m not sure exactly all that [the title] entails, I know it’s smart, so I stand behind him. That’s real.”