Erykah Badu showed compassion for Hitler in a bizarre wide-ranging interview where she also talked about her love for Bill Cosby.

Badu, 46, spoke to Vulture about staying relevant to younger listeners when her interview took a turn into more controversial subject matter.

She was asked about being labeled as anti-Semitic after traveling to Israel in 2008 where she said she followed Louis Farrakhan, the nation of Islam leader.
"I'm not an anti-Semitic person. I (didn't) even know what anti-Semitic was before I was called it.

I'm a humanist. I see good in everybody. I saw something good in Hitler," she said, taking a pivot into another questionable discussion.

"Hitler was a wonderful painter," Badu continued. TM

The interviewer expressed discontent with Badu's remarks and then asked "what would his skill as a painter have to do with any 'good' in him?"

"Okay, he was a terrible painter. Poor thing. He had a terrible childhood. That means that when I'm looking at my daughter, Mars... I could imagine her being in someone else's home and being treated so poorly, and what that could spawn," she continued. "I see things like that. I guess it's just the Pisces in me."

snip

The Anti-Defamation League's CEO Jonathan Greenblat took to Twitter to demand Badu apologize for the Hitler comment.

"You are ignoring the plain facts about Farrakhan: It is well-known that he is a virulent anti-Semite & racist.... Second, I also like to think that there is good in all people, but Hitler is pure evil. I don't care if he painted or was a vegetarian; Hitler is responsible for deaths of 6 million Jews & a war that claimed the lives of tens of millions. Shame on you for downplaying that," he tweeted. "You are a role model to many, and as such, you should immediately apologize for these irresponsible and misguided comments."

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