Kanye West has always said what was on his mind, for better or worse. Even if he’s clearly in the wrong or it landed him in hot water, he’s unflinching in his thoughts and opinions. So when he saw people in New Orleans, especially Black citizens, struggle in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he had one thought: George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.
On this day, 21 years ago, NBC hosted a benefit concert to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. Actor and comedian Mike Myers was somberly reflecting on the tragic aftermath of the natural disaster.
Then, Kanye West stumbled his way through his own speech, looking as if it was paining him to read off of a teleprompter. After Myers added a little more to his segment, Ye delivered the haymaker of a lifetime with no stuttering in the slightest. “George Bush doesn’t care about Black People,” he said with a stone-cold expression.
Mike Myers immediately looked at Ye in a state of panic and bewilderment. He desperately attempted to transition before cameras cut away completely to Chris Tucker, who looked similarly off-guard. He looked around, seemingly wondering how he was going to move forward after Ye ad-libbed his own line into the mix. Then, he awkwardly muttered his way through his segment, trying to act as if nothing happened.
Kanye West Absolutely Obliterates George Bush on This Day in 2005
Naturally, George Bush didn’t take too kindly to what the Late Registration rapper had to say. But that anger stewed with the former U.S. president for longer than we might think. In a 2010 interview with Matt Lauer in 2010, Bush admitted that Kanye West’s words still stung.
“I didn’t appreciate it then, I don’t appreciate it now,” Bush said of Kanye West. “It’s one thing to say, ‘I don’t appreciate the way he’s handled his business.’ It’s another thing to say, ‘This man’s a racist.’ I resent it; it’s not true.”
Upon learning of George Bush’s 2010 reaction, the Chicago producer and MC only doubled down further. In an interview with Houston DJ Devi Dev, Ye said he understood the accusations probably hurt Bush because they hurt Ye the same way when the public called him a racist for his controversial Taylor Swift moment at the VMAs. However, ultimately, he argued that it’s a mere reflection of what America felt in each moment, fair or unfair.
“For both situations, it was basically a lack of compassion that America felt in that situation. You know, with him, it was a lack of compassion in him not rushing, him not taking the time to rush down to New Orleans. For me, it was a lack of compassion of, you know, cutting someone off in their moment. But nonetheless, you know, I think we’re all quick to pull, like, a race card in America,” Kanye West said.
“Now I’m more open. And the poetic justice that I feel, to have went through the same thing that he went [through]. And now I really more connect with him, on… just a humanitarian level. Because that next morning, when he felt that, I felt that, too,” he continued.
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
The post On This Day 21 Years Ago, Kanye West Shocked the World (And Mike Meyers) With a Stunning Impromptu Accusation appeared first on VICE.
