Jack White, photo by David Brendan Hall

Jack White has issued a statement clarifying recent comments in which he joked about using heroin.

In a recent interview with The Irish Times, White deadpanned that a heroin habit contributed to the lengthy gap between The Raconteurs’ studio albums (the band recently released its first full-length in 11 years with Help Us Stranger). “Well, when Brendan [Benson, his Raconteurs bandmate] gave up alcohol, I started doing heroin, so that delayed things,” White quipped. “It’s funny, I’m a big believer that things happen that are supposed to happen—not in any sort of religious or mystical way, but in a ‘human nature’ kind of way.”

The satirical nature of the quote was lost on some, however, as a number of outlets subsequently reported it as if White was being serious.

Now, White has responded in a lengthy note posted to Instagram. “I’ve never done heroin or any other illegal drug in my life and anyone close to me could confirm this,” White wrote. “If you’d actually read the article in full, you could see that I was joking. I suppose SPIN never lets the facts get in the way of good clickbait.”

White went on to deride several other “trash ‘music’ cough ‘journalism’ sites” for engaging in similar instances of “clickbait.” White wrote, “I don’t hate people who own cell phones, or never allow one near me, or hate ALL technology etc. Stop painting with such a wide brush. Just because I don’t own a cell phone in an attempt to lead a healthy life doesn’t mean I hate all technology. Though you’d love me to be the luddite that provides you with cyber laughs ’til the electric cows come home, I hate to break the myth by stating that I listen to digital music, I drive an electric car, and I typed this boring response on my computer.”

“Also, back in my day in the 1800s, artists weren’t punished for taking the road less traveled, or for answering questions with unpopular responses,” White added. “Hell, we were even expected to rebel against the status quo if you can believe that.”

White closed his note by writing, “I encourage people to lead their own healthly lives and find ways to engage in things that inspire one another rather than bring them down. If you love music and the arts, I think your organizations should start to earn to do the same thing, or at least pretend you love music rather than looking to please your advertisers with clicks.”

This is not the first time White has railed against perceived click-bait stories about him. He penned a similar letter in 2015, which we can’t help feel partially responsible for.