Kanye West - the international hip hop artist who used to be known for his music, his clothes, his women, and yes, his outspokenness - took his outspokenness to a whole new level when disrespectfully interrupting country starlet, Taylor Swift, while she accepted the award for Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
Matt Lauer interviewed Kanye West for NBC's "Today" show this past Tuesday, November 9. It's clear when watching the interview that aired Thursday that Kanye becomes upset very easily with Matt and the show's producers when simply trying to do their jobs. I'd be walking on eggshells if I ever met Kanye in a professional capacity - anything said or done may be disrespecting him in some way, shape or form. However, from what the world has seen from Mr. Kanye West, it should be him who is much more careful in what he says and does.
Watch the "Today" show interview below.
In the interview, Kanye talks about the way he reacted at a celebrity telethon to then-President George W. Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina. Standing next to Mike Myers, Kanye stated that Bush "doesn't care about black people." Matt Lauer then tells Kanye to watch a clip of an interview the "Today" show co-host had just taped with Bush a few days earlier, and to pay close attention to the former president's emotional reaction when discussing Kanye's racist remark.
Kanye says to Matt Lauer, "I don't need you guys to show me the tape in order to prompt my emotions about what I'm going to say." A few seconds later, he looks off set and tells people to be quiet. Has Kanye never been interviewed before? How has he not yet learned that these overreactions will all be included in the airing of his interview? No way would the NBC producers cut those clips out - it makes for great television.
Later in the interview, when referencing the MTV VMA debacle, a clip was played of the very moment when Kanye storms the stage to interrupt Taylor Swift's acceptance speech. Kanye looks confused, then angry, and then says, "Yo how am I supposed to talk if you're gonna run this thing in the middle of while I'm talking?" Matt asks the producers to turn off the sound, and Kanye proceeds to say, "Please don't let that happen again. It's, like, ridiculous."
The interview stops airing and Matt Lauer quickly discusses Kanye's reaction to the MTV clip with his "Today" co-host, Meredith Vieira. He explains that it's common practice to roll video or sound about something that is being referenced by a guest - duh.
Now of course, just because Kanye had left the NBC studios did not mean that he was finished speaking his mind. He took to his Twitter account later that day to rant about his feelings toward his and Matt Lauer's interview. One of the tweets included the following: "HE TRIED TO FORCE MY ANSWERS. IT WAS VERY BRUTAL AND I CAME THERE WITH ONLY POSITIVE INTENT."
Then yesterday, Friday, November 12, Kanye tweets this message: "I'm not performing on the Today Show for obvious reasons. I'm so happy the world got to see just a small piece of "the set up"."
Later that day, Kanye's record company confirmed the cancellation to "Today". He was set to perform on Black Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving) at the "Today" show studios - part of a promo tour for his new album, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" being released November 22.
This cancellation is a big mistake on Kanye's part. He's going to miss targeting an insane amount of shoppers who would have seen him perform and potentially added his album to their holiday shopping lists. Many people also have that day off from work and school and would have seen him on the U.S's most-watched morning show.
Once again, bad PR, and even worse manners. This man will never learn.
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