Everyone knows by now how badly Rapper Kanye West behaved at the VMA awards last night. If you don’t, then we have the video here so you can see it for yourself. What people may not know, is that the President of the United States, Barack Obama responded to the bad behavior, calling West a ‘jackass’. Yes he did, but he doesn’t want you to know it.
Let’s start at the beginning. I’ll keep it brief, but just a little background info might be helpful since we mostly deal with politics here and we can’t assume that everyone is up to date with what is going on in the entertainment world.
The VMA awards were last night. Taylor Swift is a 19-year-old mega Country Music star and won her first award in the MTV genre. She was noticeably surprised when her name was announced. She won for Best Female Video for her video, ‘You Belong to Me’. She took the stage to accept her award, only to be interrupted by an apparently drunken Kanye West who announced that Beyoncé had the best video ever. When West handed Swift the mic back, she was obviously shaken and apparently didn’t know what to say or how to respond. In front of millions of people, no less.
Well, you can see the video of what happened below and read the reactions of people on just about every website on the internet, you don’t need me to rehash all that here. The point is, we seem to be in a season of celebrities behaving badly. Of course, we’ve had a lot of those seasons.
So, what does all this have to do with the celebrity president! Well, apparently Barack Obama was doing an CNBC interview when ABC’s Terry Moran tweeted that Obama had called Kanye West a ‘jackass’.
“Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a “jackass” for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT’S presidential.”
Freakin’ whoops!
You can imagine how the response that got. You take a viral news topic of the day and interject a slightly uncharacteristically truthful statement by the most popular celebrity in the world and you know that they internet went crazy over it. At least Twitter went crazy over it.
I’m sure the White House was none too pleased that in an unguarded moment, the Commander in Chief told the truth and it was spreading like wild fire across Twitter-Space. The White House hasn’t figured out how to spin it yet made a statement, but an ABC spokesman, tail between his legs, said this:
“In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview. This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again.”
Yeah, you’d better apologize, dudes, you know what happens to people who cross this administration! Ha!
Moran quickly deleted the tweet, but too late, it was spreading like a cancerous growth across the internet.
So, you might ask, what is the problem with Barack Obama calling a celebrity jackass, who’s made a pretty good living being a jackass, a jackass? Why would people get all ‘wee-wee’d up’ over that? Is it that Obama told the truth? That would be something that would be noteworthy! Is it that he used the word ‘jackass’? That’s not his typical kinda nerdy phraseology, but hey, its a word and it does fit the moment. Or maybe its just a matter of power and control. Obama didn’t tell Moran he could tweet it, and so he had to be chastised for reporting something the President said without explicit permission to do so. This isn’t George Bush’s press corp after all!
Whatever their reasons for disapproving of Moran’s tweet, it is refreshing that the President is capable of telling the truth, even if its only ‘off the record’. It’s also refreshing that the crowd booed Kanye West and gave Taylor Swift a standing ovation. It is also nice to read the blog posts and watch the videos. I have yet to find one that wasn’t appalled at West’s behavior and chastising him for being ‘heartless’ (and rude and classless).
Maybe people are finally getting tired of rewarding bad behavior and are starting to expect just a little bit of common decency from the people who have made millions of dollars just to be entertainers. Its really the least they can do. And really, it would be nice to see common decency (which isn’t all that common) making a comeback across the board, celebrity and common folks alike.
Could it be that rampant rudeness just isn’t in vogue anymore? Wouldn’t that be wonderful!
Kanye West, Amber Rose - Photos
Kanye West, Taylor Swift, VMA 2009 - Video
Photos: www.wenn.com
A. Miller/WENN
Flashpoint / WENN.com
Andres Otero/ WENN.com
September 14th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
It’s about time I found some common ground with President Obama.
September 14th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
why is the president of the united states,
the leader of the free world
watching the vma awards?
slow day?
September 15th, 2009 at 2:39 am
Well obviously Kanye West is a Jackass, that goes without saying.
As far as Obama’s role in the matter, It kinda shows exactly how intertwined with Pop culture this guy is, and the press thinks it as well.
Doubt they would have asked Bush’s opinion about what some hollywood idiot did or thought while he was president.
September 15th, 2009 at 2:49 am
That’s cause he’s the celebrity president - more celebrity than president.
September 15th, 2009 at 2:51 am
Let Kanye, Serena and all the rest have their fun. They are enjoying their freedom form evil whitey. This would have been behavior that would have gotten them hung back in the day so a little low-class excess is understandable.
September 15th, 2009 at 7:36 am
I couldn’t care less about Kanye West or Taylor Swift; I couldn’t name you a single song by either one of them. What ever happened to good music? Seems like all we ever listen to are rap, country, and bubble gum pop these days. Give me Steely Dan any day.
But calling a jackass a jackass doesn’t bother me a bit. It’s actually a rather endearing comment — the only part that bugs me is the immediate attempt at cover-up.
September 15th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Heavens Rhayader,
You are beginning to sound like a..ahem…right winger.
September 15th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Say it ain’t so.
Legalize drugs, prostitution, and gambling everyone. Also, humans are the result of an evolutionary process of natural selection.
Phew, that takes care of that!
(I swear I’m not trying to threadjack)
September 15th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Closet righty.
Yeah, mainstream music sucks these days.
Indie rock is whiney, rap/hiphop is all cg repetition, rock doesnt have balls anymore and I’m tired of conservatives being associated with only country.
I give country its respect because its truly an American art form with its roots but I know for a fact that conservatives are way more diverse than just country and christian.
Primus is about as close as I get to any country but dammit I sure wish just once in fricking while Hannity would play something besides that twangy redneck sh*t he always plays.
There, got that outta my system
Kanye needs his ass kicked up between his shoulders. If that were my wife on stage I’d of kicked his arrogant a$$ all up and down it and I’m not gonna give Obama credit for knowing the basics
September 15th, 2009 at 9:44 am
I hate the goody-two-shoes modern country. Country music used to have sort of an anti-hero feel: Johnny Cash, Waylon & Willie, Hank, etc. These guys were hard drinkers and druggers, generally against things like family values and authority figures. Oh, and they actually made some good music.
Now we have all this patriotic, married with two kids crap. Fine for we normal folks, but not exactly inspiring musical territory.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Cash was actually a man of good values just confused as how to conduct them and himself.
He was a a hero in the sense that he beat his addictions and went on to inspire others in prisons etc as an example and still be someone with some balls.
Guys like Kanye have none of that.
They were dragged out of some hole and corporate fabricated for the palats of the mainstream just like Menudo, Backstreet boys or anything else that we listen today. Taylor at least fueled her rocket with talent
September 15th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Yeah but Cash wasn’t a moralizer. The man liked to play for prison inmates; something tells me Kenny Chesney or Taylor Swift won’t be doing the same any time soon.
He wrote the song “Man in Black” later in his career, and he explains his worldview pretty succinctly. Among many others, he expresses sympathy for “the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold”, and “another hundred thousand who have died, believing that we all were on their side”.
Here’s a verse you wouldn’t find on modern top 40 country stations:
I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down
Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime
But is there because he’s a victim of the times
This sort of questioning of authority and identifying with marginalized people is nowhere to be found in modern country. Neither is the live-fast-and-die-young outlaw stuff from the 70’s. And the music suffers from the homogeneity.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:41 am
nah, you canteven put swift or anyone today in with Cash andymore than you could any of todays rockers with the stones
September 15th, 2009 at 10:57 am
None of the main stream female so-called country stars are actually very country. Most are pop. Taylor Swift included. The only ones that lean country consistently are Teri Clark, Gretchen Wilson, Sara Evans and Trish Yerawood.
However, that does not mean that they don’t make good music. Taylor Swift is very talented.
And yes, Kanye West is a Jackass to put it lightly. But didn’t we all know that after Katrina?
September 15th, 2009 at 10:57 am
“When I was just a baby my momma told me, Son,
Always be a good boy, Don’t ever play with guns.”
September 15th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Yeah, he expressed sympathy for them but like myself also belives you gotta pay your dues.
Cash and I got a lot in common prolly like you and I in that we know the system is f8cked up but that doesnt warrant criminality or not being accountable.
Many deserve to be punished but not to the extent someare just as many walk for what should be a considerable sentence.
I met a guy in prison who was doing 6 months for hitting hiswife. actually the wifes boyfriend hit her and they both blamed it on the husband. I’ve seen so many cases like that its not funny.
I myself did a total of a year and a half due to clerical error. Long story. For what I actually did i should got acouple months.
On the other side just about everyone in the hole is not guilty. These are the guys that just cant grow up and admit they’re a holes.
Cash tried to get inmates to know the distinction but had little pity for the truly guilty.
And then you have to look at where he did his time. Folsom is not known for its fairness
September 15th, 2009 at 11:07 am
sorry monkey, just never paid much attention to these guys like Kenye.
I listen to a lot of jazz,fusions, cultural old ethnic music, but not todays mainstream hiphop rap crap.
I’m a percussionist and give these venues and genres little credit for quality and talent
September 15th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Always be a good boy, Don’t ever play with guns
Well, I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
Yeah I think you’re right Micky. He wasn’t a free-for-all guy really (Well I know I had it comin’; I know I can’t be free). But I think he also showed a deep understanding of the human condition in his music, and seemed to embrace the idea of forgiveness. At any rate, they don’t make them like they used to.
September 15th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Moody Blues anyone? I’m feeling all nostalgic with the talk about Johnny Cash
September 16th, 2009 at 3:24 am
I think you misread my post micky. I’m pure country. Rap makes me want to puke and has been shown to cause anti-social behavior in lab rats.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Спасибо. было очень интересно.