Kanye West claims unfair treatment on 'Today'
Rapper, writer and director Kanye West attends the "Runaway" New York premiere at Landmark's Sunshine Cinema in New York City. (Oct. 21, 2010) Credit: Getty
Kanye West has taken to Twitter to protest what he said was unfair treatment by "Today" co-host Matt Lauer during a taping for an interview scheduled to air Thursday.
The Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist - who caused a commotion at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when he grabbed the microphone during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for best female video to complain about her win - specifically objected to the show running footage of the incident during the interview.
"HE TRIED TO FORCE MY ANSWERS. IT WAS VERY BRUTAL AND I CAME THERE WITH ONLY POSITIVE INTENT," West posted on Twitter."It's all a -- set up!!!!"
In excerpts of the interview released in advance by NBC, West reflected on his remarks at the 2005 Hurricane Katrina telethon when he deviated from the script to say "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
About Bush, West now says, "I would tell George Bush in my moment of frustration that I didn't have the grounds to call him a racist. But I believe that in a situation of high emotion, like that, we . . . don't always choose the right words."
Meanwhile, former President George W. Bush, interviewed on "Today" Wednesday, said he forgives the rapper. "I'm not a hater. I didn't hate Kanye West. But . . . nobody wants to be called a racist if, in your heart, you believe in equality of race."
West's tweets focused on "Today" showing the VMA clip as he was being interviewed. "Yo I really wonder if Matt Lauer thought that was cool to play the MTV clip while I was speaking about Bush?"
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