- Kanye West Apologizes To Taylor Swift For 2009 VMA Interruption
'I'm sorry, Taylor,' West wrote on Twitter Saturday morning.
By Paul Cantor
Kanye West and Taylor Swift at the 2009 Video Music Awards
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagicKanye West took to his Twitter account Saturday morning (September 4) to readdress the 2009 Video Music Awards, when he fatefully interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech.
"I'm sorry, Taylor," he wrote. "We're both artists, and the media and managers are trying to get between us. She deserves the apology more than anyone. Thank you [Twitter co-founders] Biz Stone and Evan Williams for creating a platform where we can communicate directly."
Expounding on the backlash he received, he wrote, "If you Google a--hole my face may very well pop up 2 pages into the search. ... There are people who don't dislike me ... they absolutely hate me. People tweeted that they wish I was dead ... No listen. They wanted me to die, people. I carry that."
Kanye went on to say that the media vilified him. He alluded to his claim during a 2005 NBC telethon for Hurricane Katrina that "George Bush doesn't care about black people," as a point for which the media was looking to pay him back. He noted that in the VMA aftermath, the media played the race card and turned it into an angry black man versus innocent white girl issue.
"Even though the NBC telethon was widely praised y'all didn't think they was just gone let me get away with that did y'all???!!!" he questioned, rhetorically. "The media has successfully diminished the 'receptive' audience of... KANYE WEST. ...taking a 15 second blip the media have successfully painted the image of the 'ANGRY BLACK MAN.' The King Kong theory. With the help of strong will, a lack of empathy, a lil alcohol and extremely distasteful & bad timing ... I became George Bush over night."
Kanye also said that he had a song he'd written for Taylor. Should she not be receptive to that idea, he said he'd perform it for her. "She had nothing to do with my issues with award shows," he wrote. "She had no idea what hit her. She's justa lil girl with dreams like the rest of us. Beyoncé didn't need that. MTV didn't need that and Taylor and her family friends and fans definitely didn't want or need that."
As his tweets continued, in a stream-of-consciousness manner, Kanye compared his life to that of the Wicked Witch of the West in the book and play "Wicked," which is based on the witches from "The Wizard of Oz." "The Wicked witch of the west basically is so convicted to tell her' truth," he wrote, "when she does it she is outcasted by society and turned WICKED."
Kanye said that he returned from the ego-driven fiasco with a greater sense of who he needs to be in life. "When I woke up from the crazy nightmare, I looked in the mirror and said GROW UP KANYE," he wrote. "I'm ready to get out of my own way. The ego is overdone. I take the responsibility for my actions. Yes I was that guy. A 32 year old child. With new found humility ... who am I to run on stage? I would never ever again in a million years do that. Sorry to let you down."
What do you think about Kanye West's apology to Taylor Swift? Let us know in the comments below!
Related Artists - 50 Cent Explains Photo With Jay-Z Backstage In Detroit
Fif 'got a chance to kick it' with Jay at Home and Home shows, co-headlined by Eminem.
By Shaheem Reid
50 Cent and Jay-Z in Detroit Friday
Photo: Thelifefiles.comDETROIT — You didn't think they were going to have two of the biggest hip-hop shows in the past decade without inviting 50 Cent to join in, did you? Fif and the Unit have been Eminem's special guests for the Home and Home shows, co-headlined by Jay-Z.
The Detroit run started Thursday night at Detroit's Comerica Park and concluded Friday (September 3). Sitting down with MTV News before the second show, 50, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo expressed their excitement to be a part of the historic event. On Thursday, the Unit performed "Patiently Waiting," "I Get Money" and "In Da Club." And by the following morning, footage and photos from the show circulated on various websites. But thelifefiles.com caught a very unexpected gem: One of Jay's close friends, Lenny Santiago, snapped a picture of the Jiggaman and Fif talking backstage. The energy in the pic seemed to be positive, and both were smiling.
It was surprising to all hip-hop fans, considering the fact that since last year, Fif has been throwing jabs at Hov in interviews and on songs such as "Flight 187." While Fif declined to say exactly what he and Jay conversed about on Thursday, he did say they didn't have serious beef.
"We got a chance to kick it for a minute," 50 said. "I know people were interested in what that conversation was like. But they can ask Jay-Z. I take people's actions as if it's genuinely how they feel. I can only use what I saw you do as if that's what you meant. I can't understand what your motivation was prior to that."
Fif has also had some well-documented issues with Diddy. Ever since Diddy aligned himself with Rick Ross several months ago, the General of the G-Unit has publicly lambasted the leader of Dirty Money. But 50 says a recent talk with Diddy helped clear the air between them.
"I had a conversation with Puffy the night before Jay," the Queens mogul revealed. "He gave me a whole new perspective on his actions. He's like, 'I understand the way you felt because of what I was doing at the time. But I wasn't thinking what you was thinking I was. You done hit me nine times. I'm just in the fetal because I understand why you are attacking me. But if I can't touch bases with you to tell you what I'm thinking or why I did it, then you can't understand it.' We created a little clarity out there."
The Home and Home tour continues in the Bronx, New York, on September 13 and 14 at Yankee Stadium.
Related Photos Related Artists - Eminem's DJ Alchemist 'Became A Fan' In Detroit
'I knew Em was really comfortable,' Al says after Thursday's Home and Home show.
By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Sway Calloway
Alchemist and Sway Calloway
Photo: MTV NewsDETROIT — To steal a line from Bun B, Jay-Z and Eminem did everything but walk on water for the crowd at Comerica Park on Thursday and Friday. G-Unit, Young Jeezy, Drake, D12 and Dr. Dre were all guests at the shows, playing on a stage so huge, you could fit the entire Tigers and Lions teams on it. Before night two of the Home and Home Tour, MTV News talked to the man who had a very integral role in Em's set, the Alchemist.
Though Em tried out something new with a live band, he also had Al holding down his duties on the 1's and 2's. A few hours before taking the stage on Friday night, Al gave us his recap about the combustion at Comerica.
"I think Em tested the waters [for these shows in Detroit and New York] when we did the Europe tour," Alchemist said. "You could tell when he went out there in [Europe], when he saw the reaction of the people again, it was like, 'Right.' He's been through so much. For him to be out there sober, this is the first time he's hitting the stage — God bless the dead — without Proof. The [European shows] were big shows and a big step. You got the feeling he knew he had the step still, and people love him the same way.
"I looked at the crowds in Europe and said, 'You have to do those shows in America,' " he continued. "A lot of times you go overseas. The love is the same. But the energy you see at these festivals [overseas], wow! Coming back from that and hitting the stage [Thursday in Detroit], reassured me, with a little bit of organization and some thought, the energy is the same in America. I was thrilled, like, 'Wow. We brought it home.'
"From the DJ booth [Thursday] night, it was hard. You see the sea of people on the floor. If I looked up, I saw a full stadium of people. If I squinted my eyes real hard when the records were playing, I could see them going just as hard as the people in the front were. That was amazing. Even when Jay hit the stage, he had to pause and take a moment to take it all in. I felt that too. That's not scripted.
"When Dre came out, that moment of the show, I became a fan. I was no longer DJing. At that moment when Dre came out, it was like, 'Oooooh.' He was five feet from me, he came out the floor. He was rising. It was like watching a video. It was the theatrics of a video. When he came out and did his Dre bop, it was like he never left," Al observed. "When Em said, 'You see what I do for you, Detroit,' I knew Em was really comfortable.
"When Drake came out, it's safe to say women really like Drake," Alchemist added. "The guys, of course, like him as well, but the ladies — it was a shock. I've seen them do ['Forever'] a couple times. Last night was their best interaction. They're getting into a zone where they are comfortable."
Were you at the Eminem and Jay-Z Home and Home shows? Share your concert reviews here!
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