Full video

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the reason I'm asking this question is

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because I'm not sure if you were at the

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moment but there's the artist called

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Kanye West right do you know Kanye West

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oh is he that racist one can you buy

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Jackson 5 just because Michael Jackson

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eventually went on to become a potential

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pedophile yeah yeah yeah yeah you can't

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buy it you think not really my music to

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be honest with you so I went entertained

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by you know that will help if you even

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liked it hiya welcome to easy English

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so recently Kanye West made the news for

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voicing some extreme opinions and Views

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so this poses a philosophical and moral

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question

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is it possible to separate the art from

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the artist

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now before we get started if you're a

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regular viewer of easy English and you

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want to help to support myself and easy

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become either a video or podcast member

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here we go

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[Music]

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hard drive

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girls are never

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do you think it's possible to separate

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uh the art from the artist

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um just your first opinion now my first

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opinion is that it's very it's I think

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it's an easy thing to do in terms of

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when you don't think about it it's easy

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to disassociate Wagner he was like kind

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of known to be also anti-semitic right

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or maybe even a Nazi sympathizer I guess

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and the question is do you think it's

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appropriate or morally correct uh

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um still by the artist's music artwork

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can you separate the art from the artist

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I could with Wagner yes you could it's

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undoubtedly great and is undoubtedly

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racist you look for the soil

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the bits you want from it I guess

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yeah and why why do you think that you

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can what's what's your kind of theorist

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why you're able to separate it well the

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anonymous entirely good anyway or

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entirely bad

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I would think that um

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if you achieve moments of music or

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greatness

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it's not a reason to ignore that because

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you're unpleasant in some other ways so

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there are some rubbers yeah yeah like

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they um you know like like they sell

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like how how are the streets and like

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how tough everything is but then they

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get like a lot of money so then it's

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like oh but if you actually you don't

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separate the artists and the uh

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and the art then you would you wouldn't

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listen to the people because they're

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selling something that is not what they

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are actually like what they actually are

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ah because they're talking about like

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killing people or something

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like stuff but then like they actually

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just make a lot of money they like drive

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like Hammers and they have like gold on

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their necks yeah so and then it's like

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so it's just like a product that's a

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good point I never thought about that

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what does art kind of mean to you

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because some people I think they like to

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attribute the art to the artist if you

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know what I mean yeah well I think it's

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uh art is how I interpret it and how I

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understand it so whoever someone said uh

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something about one thing doesn't mean I

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can't listen to them say something about

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another

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let's look at like Michael Jackson yeah

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I suppose it wasn't completely proven

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but it's pretty obvious that he was

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doing some dodgy stuff for children

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right yeah yeah

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do you do

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you separate when you listen to his work

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can you separate that

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um that's an interesting does it sour

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your experience it will do in my opinion

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once someone kind of releases something

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uh then it's not really their theirs

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anymore it's like my I feel like it's

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mine a little bit do you know what I

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mean like let's record this thing I just

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I feel like it's kind of mine like when

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for example Morrissey right he has some

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potentially kind of nationalistic kind

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of views sure

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but what his work means to him doesn't

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mean the same what it means to me so for

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that example for that reason I kind of

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think it's it's my it's not

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I can separate it essentially all right

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it's not his work anymore it's it's work

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for the world to to listen to and to

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analyze and to make what they wanted to

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sure but where I'm stuck is

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I also like someone like Kanye West's

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music I like right but if I'm gonna buy

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it and then giving him money and I'm

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very aware that he has like anti-semitic

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views

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sure you know Morrissey has also has

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some very kind of maybe borderline

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racist definitely nationalistic key kind

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of stuff going on in his moral compass

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so do you think you can separate it is

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it possible I think you probably can

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separate it I think the issue I always

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have a if I'm honest is whether

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someone's actually producing the art

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because they believe in the art right or

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whether they are actually being more of

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a commercial I mean because that's what

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people want to see that's what they're

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expecting so yes I do get there are

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people who actually produce art for our

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sake yeah

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um I think some of that can be

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considered quite pretentious and that is

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it just their own kind of internal kind

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of this is what I like which is great

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but you just keep it yourself you don't

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need to share it with me

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um but actually I do actually have the

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issue where people are producing art

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sometimes because they think that's what

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people want to see rather than

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necessarily what they believe in

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so if I see what I like I don't care who

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it comes from yeah okay I just like it

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but then you as a person I'm not gonna

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like

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um feel

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what's the name um

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I'm not gonna appreciate you as a person

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okay you know what I mean yeah okay like

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you'd have it on your wall but I'm but

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if someone said isn't this a blah blah

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yeah but I don't like him yeah I don't

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like him but I like what what he does

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okay so I think you can do that see what

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you think regardless of whatever they've

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done maybe

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there are like some things that is not

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not like not at all yeah but I heard

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Hitler was a good artist but you

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probably wouldn't buy an Adolf Hitler

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and have it on your wall yeah no that's

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the thing so maybe there is a line maybe

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there should be a line yeah just no

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Hitler

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that's the thing no it's like um like if

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you think like that should be like in

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all kind of

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ways you know not only but the rest is

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fine

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it's hard right it's a philosophical

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question would you buy it would you buy

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it like have you bought an

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have you bought like a Kanye West album

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or have you bought a Morrissey album I'm

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not no yeah I don't think I would and

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yeah I don't think I would do you think

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then it is morally

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correct or it would be ignorant maybe

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I'll say that it would be ignorant to

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not research the artist before you

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bought their work yeah no I think that's

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a fair enough comment yeah yeah

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especially if there was kind of any any

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kind of doubt you know most people you

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don't have to do but every now and again

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someone like Michael Jackson is you say

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you know he's probably a

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he done very well but at the same time

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yeah there was always like the suspicion

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this wasn't there so here's another

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weird one where there's like uh the line

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is blurry yeah how does it work with

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Jackson Five yeah yeah when he was like

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12 or whatever yeah yeah yeah well how

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does that work gotten those but I think

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his dad was a bit of a monster wasn't he

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so I understand you know so you kind of

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maybe understand I don't know he's bound

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to have had some sort of hung UPS did he

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beat them quite badly yeah I think so

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yeah yeah yeah I saw him led to believe

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um yeah so can you buy Jackson 5 just

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because Michael Jackson eventually went

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on to become a potential pedophile yeah

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yeah yeah yeah yeah you can't buy it you

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think not really my music to be honest

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with you so I went entertain buying you

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know that would help if you even liked

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it well I have a another stumbling

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blockers because I make these like

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little films right and

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um I'm aware that

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Harvey Weinstein right he produced

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thousands of movies and he did

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horrendous things yeah but movies aren't

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just about one person and the money

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doesn't just all go to him so how do you

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how do you navigate that like How old

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could you watch a Tarantino movie

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anymore because he produced it yeah

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could you because actors have people no

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or like a musician has a drummer and

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they've just made it awful but their

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drummer still needs to get paid yeah I

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don't know how you get around that

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again I suppose it's looking at the

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context of when it was produced when

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it's not because basically I think

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you're right with the film that was

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maybe made 10 20 years ago yeah with

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everyone you said actors technicians Etc

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yeah and not saying is right or wrong

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like what's wrong we're not saying it

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right

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but in that in that period yeah yeah I

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think people

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um it was a difference to repair a

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different era

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um and people maybe had suspicions but

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maybe weren't convictor of it and I

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think going back again to this

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conviction thing is that if Gary grinter

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brought out an album a record next year

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everybody who's involved there knows all

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about it right they've contributed they

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have decided to align themselves with

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him to be honest they they shouldn't

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have any more sympathy than he's got

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that's good that actually helps people

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previously were maybe caught up in that

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whole kind of ethos they weren't aware

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of it they may have known about it and

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turn a blind eye yeah but I don't know

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that because I can't get into their

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minds but I do know that anyone makes it

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now if he produces a film there yeah

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actually hang on a minute everyone knows

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about this so I can I could now go and

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buy Pulp Fiction because you have to put

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it back to when it you have to date it

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you can't just say you have to date it

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to when it was yeah that helps me out a

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lot so I can still buy Kanye West's old

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albums but if he puts anything now it's

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Sunday you're at the wrong people that

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can be a person but can you wish you

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need to ask him

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brilliant thank you very much thanks for

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watching this week's episode let us know

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in the comments below your opinion on

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this philosophical question are you a

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fan of an artist with controversial

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views then let us know why you're

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choosing to or not to support their work

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and we'll see you next week

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[Music]

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ocean man never

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[Music]

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mind