Sunday, September 4, 2005
Kanye West fumes on TV fundraiser
The rapper blames the time it took the government to respond to Katrina on racial bias.
By FRAZIER MOORE
The Associated Press
NEW YORK – A celebrity telethon for Hurricane Katrina survivors took an unexpected turn when outspoken rapper Kanye West went off script during the live broadcast, declaring that the United States is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible."
"A Concert for Hurricane Relief," which aired on NBC and other networks Friday night, began, fittingly enough, with jazz from New Orleans natives Harry Connick Jr. and Wynton Marsalis.
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About two-thirds of the way through the program, West took the government to task, saying, "George Bush doesn't care about black people.".. While allowing that "the Red Cross is doing everything they can," West declared that government authorities are intentionally dragging their feet on aid to the Gulf Coast. Without getting specific, he added, "They've given them permission to go down and shoot us."
(snip)
The show, simulcast from New York on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC and Pax, was aired live to the East Coast, enabling the Grammy-winning rapper's outburst to go out uncensored. West's comment about the president was cut from NBC's West Coast airing, which showed three hours later on tape.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/09/04/sections/news/news/article_661864.php