He is. He's Jay-Z. That's what he does. Waters shyt down, then tries to justify it as "y'all wanted it".
Obviously the public bear some of the blame but the bottom line is that the industry bears most of it. They are the manufacturers of this shyt. The influencers.
Entertainment is not that deep for most people. They simply don't sit around thinking "yo, I'd love to hear this in a song/see this in a movie." They just want to be entertained. Some topics are naturally more entertaining/eye-catching than others. If you're in the industry, it's your job to provide some sort of balance. Obviously you should try to please the public but at the same time, you should be helping them grow. You're the leader.