Some bro named DJ Justin James has come under fire for posting an extremely sexist call for women DJs, specifying not their style of music nor even what equipment they use, but their height, weight, and photograph. To add insult to injury, he posted his request in a Facebook group called “Support FEMALE DJs.”
James’s post has since been deleted, but FACT is reporting the story, and kept a screenshot:
“I only work with attractive female DJs that know how to read a room and play.” You’d be forgiven if you believed James’s insistence that his “most important” requirement is that the women DJs “do not suck” was fairly disingenuous, given that the physical requirements (and hilariously outdated demand for an “EPK”) are listed first and foremost.
And in a screenshot of a personal conversation, James told a woman “if they wanted talented DJs, they would just hire men.”
After the story hit, the Florida DJ reached out to FACT, claiming that he was simply conveying the requirements clubs level to him when booking woman DJs:
He continues: “Sex sells. Period. Please don’t act like this is something that we were not aware of, and please do not shoot the messenger for relaying the message. As I stated before; Be whoever you want… But, in certain markets around the world you need to fit a specific criteria.”
James said he didn’t envision there would be such a backlash. “The goal with my career has never been to be controversial, but unfortunately some people get offended by honesty. Unfortunately there is too much bullshitting in the entertainment industry, so rather than waste people’s valuable time I decided to be honest and up-front about what was requested of me… Fuck me right? If anyone actually read my initial post they would understand that that is not what I said… Anybody can be a DJ as long as it stems from a true love of music.”
He added on Facebook:
I was never putting down female DJs… Some of my favorite DJs / Producers are female… Miss Kittin (1982 – first record ever bought), Maya Jane Coles, Annie Mac, Anna Lunoe, Baby Anne, DJ Spinderella, Paris Hilton, that girl from Zach Efron’s new movie… The comment I made about “just hiring a man” was mis-placed sarcasm.. Also a personal message.
Perhaps he was indeed just being honest—with a paucity of woman DJs on bills both at the club level and major music festivals, it’s clear that garden-variety misogyny is still dictating the booking industry. (Also, “that girl from Zach [sic] Efron’s new movie” is fucking Emily Ratajkowski, and she plays not a DJ but a love interest.) But his backtracking is simply that, and doesn’t mitigate his initial post, which shows him, at the very least, to be complicit in this disproportionately oppressive system if we take him at his word. And if we don’t, then he’s just a consummate troll, though his Facebook page is currently the site of many excellent burns from people defending women DJs. One commenter, on a photo of a party populated by around 50 people: “Steady rockin the crowd haha.” LOL DAMN.
Contact the author at [email protected].
Justin James image via Facebook, screenshot via FACT
GET JEZEBEL RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX
Still here. Still without airbrushing. Still with teeth.
