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Leave Kanye Alone
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Even Kanye West doesn't defend the scene he caused about Taylor Swift at last night's VMAs. But Choire Sicha may be the only person in America on his side.
Kanye West was, according to MTVNews.com, booted from their Video Music Awards after his already infamous live microphone- and moment-stealing attack on Taylor Swift. In case you were dead or watching tennis last night, he bum-rushed the show when Swift won in the illiterately-named Best Female Video, and said, essentially, that Beyoncé should have won in that category.
The outrage was insane and immediate, both at the show, where the booing was a little frightening, and online, where everyone speed-Tweeted their horror and disapproval. It is amazing that Twitter did not go down completely.
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At least Kanye started his tiny tirade by telling Swift "I'm going to let you finish." MTV are the ones who actually didn't.
What a disaster! One tiny element of chaos and MTV fell apart—and so did America. One millionaire was mildly mean to another millionaire. Make no mistake: little Taylor Swift is at the head of very wealthy and successful business empire. And the head of another business empire was mildly impolite and out of order at a music awards show! Which is to say he created some excitement not previously sanctioned by an MTV producer.
When did America get so fussy and uptight?
I won't go so far as to suggest that everyone was flipped out that this angelic little white girl (and she is super-cute) was accosted by a probably drunk (West was, again according to MTVNews.com, “photographed holding a bottle of Hennessey on VMA red carpet.”)—and definitely crazy—older black man. I'll keep that thought to myself, but I'll keep thinking it.
We do like our entertainment prepackaged. Though Madonna's extraordinarily long (by today's standards) opening speech about Michael Jackson was notable for its lack of gloss and flash, and it was overall rather wonderful, it disappeared from memory twenty minutes later.
Looking down into the pit of bouncing youngsters set into the stage of Radio City, you could see how much people want to be good polite citizens. When people are going to be on TV, they act like the people on the TV.
I won't go so far as to suggest that everyone was flipped out that this angelic little white girl (and she is super-cute) was accosted by a probably drunk—and definitely crazy—older black man. I'll keep that thought to myself, but I'll keep thinking it.
What's worse, the level of Internet discourse taking place around the Sudden Kanye Eruption is Perez-like in its vulgarity and Twitter-length terseness—as Perez Hilton's own blog ghostwriter of the night put it: "WTF!?!?! How RUDE."
That’s particularly rich coming from the spokesperson for the head of a very wealthy and successful business empire that specializes in drawing semen on photos of the faces of women.
It's not like Kanye brought the articulation either when he apologized on his website. He wrote, in part, that "I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOOO ME BUT I'M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!!" (His site promptly went down under the massive scorn of millions of Americans, but LATimes.com has the screengrab.)
Don't bother apologizing, Kanye. The thing about the Incoming High Impact Kanye is that it was nearly the only honest note of the night. For instance, here's MTV's liveblog, from early in the show, when host Russell Brand took the: "Get ready for some lewd LOLs!" Yeah, we got the lewd, but not the LOLs, with Brand’s low point being an extended roofie and date-rape joke about Megan Fox. (It's okay: I doubt we’ll be seeing Brand in this role again.)
Among other actually honest moments were two from Pink. One was her incredibly hot and butch performance itself, starting from the top of the 60-foot-high proscenium. The other was from her Twitter: "Kanye west is the biggest piece of shit on earth. Quote me."
And Beyoncé's sort of sizzling, sort of sexist dance routine was impressive, but we all knew Beyoncé could do that. (What would have been exciting is if she'd sung.)
What's remarkable, in the end, is how little newness there was. The Beyoncé and the Jay-Z and the Madonna and the Green Day we have long had with us. Even Lady Gaga, the newcomer, has been on such continuous play that she seems a bit old already. And though her performance tonight was delightfully circa 1984 East Village, it still didn't rival a classic Madonna moment, and just couldn't cement her into pop culture history. (No worries though: the Gaga isn't going anywhere.)
The flaw in Gaga's ointment too was is in part that she was upstaged by Kanye. Everything and everyone was upstaged by Kanye—because it was one of the few moments the audience could feel anything.
The show went out with a whimper. Worst of all was Jay-Z, already so incredibly overrated, who performed abysmally. He was unintelligible, uninteresting and completely counterfeit.
By then, Kanye was already at home, probably well into his second bottle of Hennessey, laughing his head off. Here's to real pop culture.
Choire Sicha is co-proprietor of The Awl and is at work on a nonfiction book for HarperStudio.
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Choire Sicha is co-proprietor of The Awl and is at work on a nonfiction book for HarperStudio.
Fussy? We just don't like men bullying girls. I'd have liked to see him do that at the CMTs. Nuff said.
There's a history of Kayne's whining. This isn't the first time. He's a mental case, talented maybe but a mental case. Still,
1) The nominated songs are clearly sold by sexy videos, aren't very good, and are interchangeable in terms of production and style, and
2) Taylor Swift claims she sings country, but it sure doesn't sound like it ... what, a fiddle makes it country? It's all pop music.
I loved the line about "dead or watching tennis". How about people that have too much taste/class care about MTV or its invariably terrible TV shows? Why do they still have video awards? They never show music videos, so I can't figure it out.
Kanye has obviously had his brain destroyed by the money, girls, weed. All his lyrics after Graduation are just painfully retarded, but what do you expect from an industry that names its next big new thing "Lady Gaga".
He might be a retarded asshole, but at least he f-d up the stupid award ceremony in a hilariously drunken way. Getting trashed and doing stupid things to stupid people is something I admire. The only down side is that he might realize how much the alcohol is hurting him, sober up, and release a new album about how he re-found Jeebus.
Correction: above should say "after Late Registration", not Graduation.
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We are in an unfortunate state of affairs where merely disagreeing with or booing a black person (deserved or not) brands you a racist. I'm not going to feel sorry for a multi-millionare of any race that can't manage his liquor and attitude.
I am so &%6@! sick of this FOOL. "Constance" aka Kanye West, just go awy and die byatch!
Nobody is wringing their hands over black guy/white chick. Don't try to turn this into a race thing. What is inexcusable is the incredible rudeness. What a scumbag West has turned out to be. Both Taylor Swift and Beyoncé showed true class in the face of thuggish behavior.
Kanye is a Communist!
No. I think Kanye is really a Kanyenist more than anything.
Barack Okanye?
Nah. Too derivative. You're mistaking class for ass.
"Kanye is a Communist!"
now that made me chuckle.
Kanye was acting out what he has watched Conservative adults do to this President. Not a good look huh?
"Don't try to turn this into a race thing". Of course not. We all know "race things" can only be done by white folks!
It looked and sounded like what it was. A nasty little black man rudely grabbing a microphone from a talented, pretty white girl and saying she was given a prize that should have gone to a talented, pretty black girl.
Would West have done the same thing if another black girl had won? Pigs might fly.
Beyonce's perfect response exposed this little creep for what he is.
Teach the ill-mannered idiot West a lesson in manners. DON'T buy is CD's
you still buy CDs?
What is a "CD"?
There is the answer....don't buy any Kane music in any format. Choire is being absurd here. Maybe he needs to check his own resentments toward successful pop stars, their race and their "earned" incomes. Guess contributing to the Beast is not affording you the lifestyle you want?
The kidnapping of Taylor Swift
Left VMA spectators miffed;
It's more in a saga
Where Kanye goes gaga
For trophies he never has sniffed.
News Short n' Sweet by JFD8
http://twitter.com/JFD8
Oh please - Rude is rude whether your rich, poor, black, white or anything else. Your lame attempt to stir up debate is just that - lame.
So.......none of it was Kanye's fault. And the real shame was that the show was predictable and boring. Except, of course, for Kanye's honesty which caused the audience to "feel." Pretty ugly column.
Kanye's "honesty"? He's talking about whose ass-shaking video was better. Who's smarmy sugar pops tasted better. MTV and the whole mess, including Mr The Importance of Being Earnest West," need to settle down and REALLy look at the real world. He's a big baby and so in love with himself he's gotta jump on stage and grab a microphone? C'mon, he says "Welcome to the real world" in his apology. Please. This is insanely silly.
You can see the brain cells, what little are left, burning when he tries to think.
you know what i'm sayin'.
This is an intentionally outrageous opinion to draw controversy. Kanye West was drunk and was immediately kicked out of the event.
I suggest readers ignore Mr. Sicha.
( "I won't go so far as to suggest that everyone was flipped out that this angelic little white girl (and she is super-cute) was accosted by a probably drunk-and definitely crazy-older black man. I'll keep that thought to myself" )
Way to keep it to yourself.
More bullshit race baiting when race had nothing to do with KANYE's KLASSless "act."
Haven't we seen this "act" before, when Kanye's dissed black artists ?
( "In case you were dead or watching tennis last night" )
So you were the ONE watching MTV.
A column by a novice lightweight trying to be provocative.
Lame social commentary, and no sense of humor.
If it's lame commentary you want, leave it to us bloggers.
This is reminiscent of last week's "Why is it bad to heckle the President"? It's bad because the level of public discourse and behavior is plunging by the minute. I'm old and don't give a damn about Taylor Swift *or* Kanye West, but these "when did we get so prissy?" editorials are maddening. In essence, they're saying "Any level of propriety interferes with my right to wallow in crap. The death of civilized behavior can't come soon enough for me, and anybody who is offended by unacceptable behavior is a pansy." Well, thank you in advance for not breeding, little Morlock.
Minski, you're a prince, if an old prince. I SO agree with you. We will never regain ground as our vulgar, mindless citizenry slips even farther into the mire of their own rude, hateful idiocy. In the final analysis that's so much more important than Kanye West, Obama or any one issue. I was embarrassed before about the level of American culture, but these days feel like the downfall of civilization. I know most people will just regard this as prissy "intellectual" bullshit--they just want their reality shows, which have modeled all this loud, narcissistic vulgarity. (Glad I got that off my chest.)
I'm reminded of Peggy Noonan in _Patriotic Grace_: "We don't need to control free speech, we need to control ourselves."
She looks terrified! What a jerk he is. And the image of a drunk rapper terrifying someone so innocent is awful! I never cared for this guy. I always felt and thought he was a JERK doing a horrible job trying to pass as a goody two shoe. He exhibited this same rude behavior after 9/11 when he said President George Bush didn't like black people. What is his claim to fame and is any of his stuff being remembered?
"and we are not saved..."
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I had no intention of defending Kanye but you two baited me.
robjh1, Kanye did not say George Bush doesn't like black people after 9/11 -- he said that George Bush doesn't CARE about black people after KATRINA. It had already been almost a week, and people were not getting rescued. In that case, his deduction seemed fair enough. It's a sentiment that a lot of people felt after Katrina.
charles116, first of all, putting 'sister' in quotes? Really? Second of all, no, you're completely wrong about that. Beyonce is a personal friend of his. He dedicated a song to Jay-Z, her husband, called "Big Brother." He produced most of the beats on Jay-Z's latest album. A while ago, he signed on to Jay-Z's record label. Furthermore, he recently did a single with Beyonce, ironically titled "Ego." This was not simply a root for the black woman over the white woman thing.
That said, his actions at the VMAs were completely inappropriate. He's clearly mortified about it now. Let's just keep attacks on him at least somewhat fair.
Apparently the author of this piece likes out of control people. He seems to be writing that the only excitment in life is when people act out for no one will remember politness.
Is this what it all comes down to. Acting out and no civility??
"and we are not saved..."
apparently you don't like black people either.
Princeminski has it exactly right. This is just the latest in Daily Beast's mission to attempt to stir up readers with controversy and basically saying the opposite of public opinion just for the hell of it. This column is ugly and inflammatory just to incite a negative reaction (which I'm all too ready to give!)
Bringing race into this situation is disgusting, Mr. Sicha, so give it a rest.
@adubya: I'm with you, except that this column is more stupid than ugly and more limpid than inflammatory.
I rarely click-thru my Daily Beast headlines and was pretty sure when I clicked on this one I was going to read some hastily assembled pile of contrary-for-the-sake-of-it drivel. Hey, I'm pretty smart!
I gotta say, I clicked over to the MTV "news" article and saw this:
""I'm sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time," 'Ye proclaimed after he pulled the microphone out of the country star's hands. B looked stunned as she sat by in the audience."
Sorry, the "news" can't even spell out "Kanye" or "Beyonce?" Really? I understand its MTV and we don't exactly go to them for journalistic integrity, but um, get a f'ing grip. I weep for the future.
I suggest award ceremony producers arrange for Mr West to interrupt and take a mic away from Danny Bonaduce. It would likely be the last time he pulls this schtick.
As was said in "Devil Wore Prada", "Tiny man, huge ego".
Hmmm, you sure you didn't have a bottle of Hennessey yourself? Because this article's pretty much rambling all over the place. The guy acted like a douche and people called him on it - how's that for honesty?
This is a terrible,writter, terrible article.!!! I thought I had trouble expressing my thoughts. What was done has nothing to do with angelic white face, black,pink green.This was terrible. Beyonce,is a Star,Gorgeous, a Performer,lovely,kind,she did not need that creep to mention her at that moment.!!!If he has a crush on Beyonce,he should go see her.!!!He should never be allowed again on the a stage, and He is a nobody.a no=one.!!!!!!His ego,his rudenes,has just ruined his talent.and should ruin his career.Who does he think he is.??He had no right to take the spotlight of this girl who earned it.If she was white,pink,yellow,green,no one ever did that to Beyonce.and Beyonce is a real class act by aloowing Taylor the stage.Beyonce is a true,star,Taylor,a true talent,Kaynan creep
Thought this site had higher standards for its writers.
Perhaps just higher fauxhawks?
"I won't go so far as to suggest that everyone was flipped out that this angelic little white girl (and she is super-cute) was accosted by a probably drunk-and definitely crazy-older black man. I'll keep that thought to myself, but I'll keep thinking it."
Why are you keeping this thought to yourself? That is exactly what it was - an overtly racist act on West's part. Check out his backstage rant on youtube
Jazz, if you're being facetious, then my mistake. But if you're not, then I think you misunderstood. He was suggesting that people flipping out at Kanye's scene was racist, not that Kanye himself was racist.
Although technically Mr. Sicha says that he "won't go so far as to suggest" that these reactions were racist. As if that little qualifier removes any responsibility for tasteless and unnecessary race-baiting. If you want to think that, think that. If you want to write it in an article and post it for everyone to see, then don't pretend you're holding it in.
Looking at the author's picture I'm sure it's just Perez Hilton with darker hair. Will we next get a disheveled Sicha doing a you tube video crying for us to leave Kayne West alone? Your right Choire, it's not Wayne's fault, as a young aspiring rapper he went into his local Acorn chapter and was told that he shouldn't take any guff from young blonde white girls and that hennessy is a tax wriute off. Hell, he won't even let his girlfriend have any hair.... what losers.
Oh, please! Kanye West is a douchebag of the highest order, and the jerk deserves twice the opprobrium being heaped upon him.
I just hope that the next time he wins an award someone pulls a stunt like this on him.
I am white and totally agree with the writer about social issues and status in America
I believe Kanye West is one of the classiest black person in this country and represents the competition level in the society by achieving high standards.
You have to see the arrogance levels in British, French and Russians before you trash your own.
Why is being white relevant to your comment?
Would you please define "classiest"? West's behavior places him in the gutter in my view.
Is a classy black person different from a classy white person?
Give some examples (or ONE) of Kanye exhibiting any "class" whatsoever. He is an arrogant, out-of-control moron.
And your reference to the arrogance levels of other people(s) is not only out of left field, but pointless. Even if your statement was true, are there "levels" of inappropriate behavior? ALL inappropriate behavior is, well, INAPPROPRIATE.
Bad article. Kanye is a punk and there is no excuse for his behavior.
I just U-tubed the Kanye/Taylor moment. What a cruel and sad moment for music. Kanye just lost so much respect from fans. I love the innocence of Taylor Swifts reaction. A true reaction. Beyonce also showed class. Another sad case of thinking out loud. The new American way ......... very sad.
Another sad case of thinking out loud. The new American way.
--------------------
AGREED!
Taylor was not terrified , maybe surprized a little and she also said she was not upset about the entire incident back stage..and didn't know WEST personally..
.. so let's not make this about a thuggish male behaviour taking advantage of (17) year old purity white girl looking at kanye West as the BIG BLACK BOOGIE MAN..
..what he did was out of line.. but not NEW to the promoters of these award SHOWS, he's done this type of thing before..taking the glory of someone spotlight..
...the way to STOP this type of thing is to NOT let those on stage that don't belong on the stage doing someone's acceptance speech..
West is jerk off for sure.. I don't like him as person.. some of his music is OK..but as a person he has NO class..
Oh and for the Godless/race baiters/ racist.. President Obama has nothing to do with kanye West antics of rude-ness..here lately when ever a notble african american does something Good or indifferent in the media, it's President Obama fault as too the result of his comment in regard to Professor Gates(NOT).. as if president obama is the reason african americans act out .. i.e. Serena williams and kanye West..
.. so save your statements for those of your kind who want to promote your dribble of HATE, the un-godly and Godless in the rim of such climate acceptible....
Oh yes, let's NOT make this a 'black/white' predjudice issue...
BTW: Who EXACTLY is 'your kind'??
zzzzzzzzz
"mildly impolite" ? F#@$ you.
Thank you.
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