Erykah Badu responds after Adolf Hitler comments sparks backlash

Erykah Badu insists her supportive comments about Adolf Hitler were taken out of context.

The soul singer ruffled a lot of feathers earlier this week after she shared in an interview with Vulture that she sees the “good” in controversial figures such as World War II Nazi leader Hitler, accused rapist Bill Cosby and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

“I saw something good in Hitler,” she told the publication. “I’m a humanist. I see good in everybody… I know I don’t have the most popular opinion sometimes.”

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After the statements were made public she was immediately slammed by Anti-Defamation League leader Jonathan Greenblatt for anti-semitism – sparking debate amongst her fans.

Thursday she took to Twitter to clarify her intentions and her politics.

“People are in real pain,” she wrote on the site. “So I understand why my ‘good’ intent was misconstrued as ‘bad’. In trying to express a point, I used 1 of the worst examples possible. Not to support the cruel actions of an unwell, psychopathic Adolf Hitler, but to only exaggerate a show of compassion.”

“Either U read the entire VULTURE interview & U understood the message of compassion CLEARLY,” she continued. “OR U only read the selective, out of context Headlines, & were drawn in2 the whirlpool of collective emotional grief. I don’t want 2 force U 2understand the way I love. I’m hopeful tho.”

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She also hopes fans believe she was only trying to be “encouraging.”

“Voicing honest opinions (even if they are meant to be loving) in such a sensitive world where most of us are victims of some violent past is very dangerous,” she concedes. “Even encouraging words can be misinterpreted when taken out of context. Human beings are very delicate. Protect one another.”