In 2009, after many years of Axl’s silence, and after only one side of the story being told to us by some GN'R's former members, Axl finally gave an interview, conducted by Del James.

In that same interview, Axl accepted to talk about the possibility of a GN'R reunion.

Axl told that there was no possibility for a reunion with his former bandmate Slash and said something that, even today, makes some people go mad:

The all interview was summarized to a single highlight promoted by the press: "Axl Rose calls Slash a cancer", as we can see here:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ … w-20090227

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/ … cer-198427

Some sites even change words to look even more dramatic: "Axl Rose says Slash is a Cancer", as you can see here:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2009/02/2 … WA20090227

http://www.velvetrevolverforum.com/foru … 991.5;wap2

It's funny to see that the press only wanted to promote a (supposedly) negative but sensationalist side of the all interview ... and, once again, the public eat it.

Like now, Slash gave an interview and the press only pick the “never say never” quote  to fool everybody, once more.

The public eat this kind of shit so well that, until today, some people keeps repeating that "Axl called Slash a cancer", in defense of Slash, everytime someone say something negative about Slash.

It's funny (but somehow sad) to see how some people can be easily manipulated by the press.

Let’s be a little bit strict and accurate now … the truth is, Axl actually never called Slash a cancer nor said that Slash is a cancer. That’s a fact, as anyone can see.

Axl never said “Slash is a cancer” nor “Slash, your’re a cancer” … that is calling someone a cancer.

Axl said "In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer..." ... It was an analogy ... obviously Axl was referring to Slash's behavior and to the way he, personally, saw his behavior ... that's why he referred "In a nutshell" ... he just didn't want to develop his motives behind the analogy.

I'm not saying that it is good or bad, but, maybe it's time for people to stop saying that Axl called Slash a cancer, because it isn't strict and accurate.

This may look like we are playing with words but, to me, there's a huge difference between "consider" and "calling".

"To consider" has an implicit and weighted doubt
"To call" involves an undoubted statement

I was reading a comment made by Marc Canter, a close friend of both Axl and Slash, regarding this question and he said:

Some people also say that Axl was being mean when he said that, because he knew Slash’s mother was dying from cancer .... maybe he wasn't aware of Ola Hudson's illness when he said that ... or, maybe he was, I don't know ... nobody knows ... so it's kind of stupid to accuse him as if he was aware of that situation. Nothing in his interview says he was aware of that. Besides didn't Axl's mother also died form cancer in 2002? I read somewhere she did.

Another interesting thing is to see that Slash himself didn't take it to the heart at the time, when he even told "that's sorta funny", and then never talked about it again ... is their fans who got really offended for years and years just because of something that is a fallacy meanly promoted by the press. To be honest no one can understand if they really got offended or if they just like to use this easy but fake argument to defend Slash, everytime someone criticize Slash.

So, the big mistery remains ... why the hell this fallacy still is so important for some people?

I think the answer to this question, has nothing to do with the “cancer” term but, it’s in the second half of Axl’s comment:

“(…) the less anyone heard of (…) his supporters, the better”

This, my friends, is what really made Slash’s fans go mad … this is what made them crying and complaining for years … and this is why they keep talking about the “cancer”, over and over again, everytime they can … they got really pissed with this, because they felt affected.

So, everytime they come to criticize Axl, in defense of Slash, because of the “cancer” comment, they can’t really be taken serious … because they aren’t impartial at all. They are in the middle of the feud. And everytime they do that, they prove Axl was absolutely right about what he said … the less we heard of them , the better.

I like Slash as a guitar player, but I don't consider myself his personal supporter ...so I guess Axl wasn't talking about me when he said “(…) the less anyone heard of (…) his supporters, the better” ... this puts me out of the feud, so I can give my impartial opinion.

I never heard Axl's opinion about this ... All I said it's a result of my own reflection ... I can be totally wrong, but it's my opinion ...