An interview Erykah Badu did with Vulture has drawn a very strong, very mixed reaction online.

Badu talks at length about a variety of topics over the course of the interview, touching on motherhood, neo-soul, dating and her outlook on life.

It is that last point that has raised the ire of many online.

In answering a series of questions that begin with interviewer David Marchese asking about Badu’s support of controversial figures, Badu defended herself against claims that she is anti-Semetic, and worked to explain how her empathetic nature leads her to have views “I know I could be crucified for.” 

Badu told the magazine, “I’m an observer who can see good things and bad things. If you say something good about someone, people think it means that you’ve chosen a side. But I don’t choose sides. I see all sides simultaneously.” 

This philosophy, she explains, gives her love for accused sexual predator Bill Cosby and for accused anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan. And in the statement that has most put Badu under fire, she said, “I saw something good in Hitler.”

Users on Twitter were terribly quick to make their displeasure known:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She did, however, have some supporters:

 

 

 

Badu took to the platform to address her critics, echoing sentiments she’d made in the interview about her disdain for groupthink and the dangers of “the rush to get mad.”

Answering @All_AmericanRan, who asked the singer, “What happened muva?,” Badu wrote, “Nothin. I was just using my own brain again.”

 

Badu also said that she encourages dialogue, and asked that people read all of her remarks before joining the debate.

 

 

Despite inviting debate, Badu made it clear in the piece that while she is happy to listen, she will ultimately always do and say what she believes is the right thing.

“I don’t care if the whole group says something, I’m going to be honest,” Badu said. “I know I don’t have the most popular opinion sometimes.”

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