John Lennon’s Son Says DEI Stands for ‘Dumb Evil Idiots’

Sean Ono Lennon attends The Beatles Get Back The Rooftop Concert at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York on Jan. 30, 2022. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Disney)

Sean Ono Lennon, the son of iconic singer John Lennon, is no fan of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

The singer/musician made that clear on Wednesday when he strongly criticized DEI on X related to and following the resignation of ex-Harvard President Claudine Gay.

“Have you guys heard of DEI? It stands for ‘Dumb Evil Idiots,” he said. Mr. Lennon went on to claim those fighting institutional racism and oppression actually create it in the course of their efforts to fight against it.

When a user asked him to define Environmental Social Governance (ESG), Mr. Lennon answered, “Exploiting Seems Good.”

Lennon Cites Investor Bill Ackman’s Criticism of Harvard

Mr. Lennon also knocked the “social justice warriors” who claim to be fighting against “institutional racism” in response to a tweet by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman who has been critical of Harvard’s DEI policies.

“To make a long story short: the people who claim to be fighting ‘institutional racism’ are doing so by creating institutional racism. And absolutely no one should be surprised by this,” he posted. “And you can also supplant the word ‘racism’s with ‘oppression.’ It’s both.”

As stated, Mr. Lennon’s comments followed that of Mr. Ackman who advocated for the closure of the Harvard Office for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.

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Mr. Ackman, 57, alleged the office removed ideology from its website after he raised questions about who the commission represents. The investor also called for the members of the Harvard Corporation to resign.

“The Corporation Board should not remain in their seats protected by the unusual governance structure which enabled them to obtain their seats,” he posted, claiming the board failed to create a discrimination-free campus and exposed Harvard to congressional investigations, “tremendous” reputational damage and the potential loss of federal funding.

Mr. Ackman has said he believes the committee should include the most “impressive,” “high integrity” and “intellectually and politically diverse” members with “true” diversity and viewpoints.

Ackman Bemoans Hiring Based on DEI

It was back in December that Mr. Ackman noted Ms. Gay was hired because of the school’s DEI initiative, rather than “identifying the best leaders for our prestigious universities.”

“I learned from someone with first-person knowledge of the Harvard president search that the committee would not consider a candidate who did not meet the DEI office’s criteria,” Mr. Ackman wrote in a post on X at the time. Ms. Gay is black.

“The same was likely true for other elite universities doing searches at the same time, creating an even more limited universe of DEI-eligible presidential candidates,” Mr. Ackman continued.“Shrinking the pool of candidates based on required race, gender, and/or sexual orientation criteria is not the right approach to identifying the best leaders for our most prestigious universities.”

The board had supported Ms. Gay despite her congressional testimony on Dec. 5 during which she failed to unequivocally state that calls for Jewish genocide violate Harvard’s conduct policies. The fellows accepted Ms. Gay’s recent resignation with “overarching consideration.”

Lennon Previously Critical of Chinese Propaganda

For his part, Mr. Lennon gained notoriety in 2020 when he openly criticized the establishment media for pushing Chinese propaganda amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Been listening to ‘respectable’ journalists quoting CCP official numbers for months without doubt or hesitation. Calling it the Wuhan Virus but only days later telling ppl who say it’s from China they’re racist. The official media have lost their legitimacy,” he said.