Stuck on Stupid: Kanye claims victim status over Matt Lauer interview

Cry me a river! Via Reuters:

Rapper Kanye West on Wednesday complained of being misused in a new TV interview during which he pulled back from a 2005 comment he made that characterized former President George W. Bush as a racist.

But the outspoken rapper, who is known for his socially-conscious lyrics, did not say he was misquoted when the “Today” morning chat show interviewed him. Instead, in a series of Twitter messages, he said the program’s co-host Matt Lauer had “tried to force my answers” to questions.

“Today” stood by its interview.

[…]

The three-way verbal sparring began when Bush hit the promotional circuit for “Decision Points” and was asked about passages that address comments West made on a television fund-raiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina. On the program West said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

In the book and in his own interview earlier this week on “Today,” Bush told Lauer the comment upset him. “He called me a racist…I didn’t appreciate it then. I don’t appreciate it now.”

“Today” then pursued an interview with West, which will air on Thursday, November 11. When asked by Lauer about those past comments, West seemed to soften his stance about the former president.

“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 as human beings don’t always choose the right words,” he said.

[…]

Hours earlier, West had taken to Twitter and complained to his fans that he had been misused by the “Today” show and by Lauer. His main complaint seemed to be that while appearing on “Today,” the show began airing another video underneath him that portrayed him in a negative light.

“I went up there to express how I was empathetic to Bush because I labeled him a racist and years later, I got labeled as a racist…,” West tweeted.

About Lauer, West wrote: “He tried to force my answers. It was very brutal and I came here with only positive intent.”

In another, he said: “I feel very alone very used very tortured very forced very misunderstood very hollow very very misused.”

Doesn’t this moron understand that no one needs to “paint” him in a negative light, that he does that on his own naturally?

I’m sick of Kanye, and I hate that this “issue” has become one of the main focal points of interviewers with President Bush as he promotes his new book.

In fact, I kinda hate myself for even writing about this. Excuse me while I go slap myself upside the head.