Kanye’s Messy Interview With Matt Lauer
Kanye West’s interview with Matt Lauer during the Today show last week was perhaps one of the most painful things I’ve watched on television since…well since the Chicago native’s notorious VMAs stunt over a year ago, but apparently, the train wreck could’ve been avoided. Reportedly, ‘Ye’s people hired seasoned media trainer Susie Arons of Rubenstein Communications to prepare the hip-hop star for the sit-down. After weighing the pros and cons, she and team ‘Ye agreed to call off the whole thing, but at the last minute on the day the interview was taped, Arons was informed the “Runaway” rapper had decided to go through with it, and she hurried over to NBC’s Rockefeller Center where ‘Ye was waiting. A “Today” show insider told Page Six:
“West shut himself in a dressing room with Susie, and could be heard rehearsing possible questions and answers. But the interview began, and it was as though he had crammed for a test and then his mind went blank.”
After seeing the strained expression on ‘Ye’s face during the interview when it aired on Thursday morning, I venture to say getting his jaw wired shut in the wake of his infamous 2002 car accident was less painful for him than this debacle. Ouch!
Anyway, following the taping of the interview, ‘Ye took issue with Lauer on Twitter, claiming the legendary newsman “forced his answers.” On Friday, Aronson resigned from her post on ‘Ye’s team, less than a week after being hired, while his upcoming concert on Today, originally scheduled for Black Friday, has been canceled. SMH, ‘Ye needs more people.
Check out the entire fiasco in the video below:
I personally thought it was Matt Lauer who should be embarrassed for the interview. Both interviews. Firstly, Bush makes his typical arrogant comments that show him as not having any level of compassion for anyone outside of himself. He pointed to Kanye saying that he doesn’t care about black people as the worst point in his presidency. My God!! How arrogant can you get. Shouldn’t the hurricane itself and the deplorable way it was managed be the worst moment of your presidency? Or sending thousands of people to die in 2 wars? Or thousands and thousands of people dying in their homes during those wars? But no, poor me, I was made to feel uncomfortable.
Then Matt Lauer shows these images to Kanye as if Bush is a 5 year old child that Kanye picked on instead of a powerful billionaire. If George Bush really did care about black people, and poor people, that statement should have made him introspective, not whiny.
It reminded me of his awful comment in excusing the Iraq war saying, “You have to remember, this man (Saddam Hussein) tried to kill my father.” His father is fine! His father (and George W.) sent thousands of people to their actual deaths as well as allowed the deaths of tens of thousands of Afghanis and Iraqis. However you feel about the wars, it is unbelievably arrogant to justify them with, “why oh why should billionaires ever have to experience stress. it’s so unfair.”
The take that Matt Lauer had on this was really disgusting. Instead of asking Kanye why he felt this way, he acted a little racist, “don’t pick on the rich white guy meanie.” He could have had an intelligent conversation with Kanye who was willing to state that his comments were extreme. Instead he acted incredibly unprofessional and conducted what was no where near an interview, it was just him badgering Kanye about something that was very far from being even a very big deal.