Kanye West on the Today Show -- Justified or Just a Drama King?

Kanye West appeared on the Today show where Matt Lauer brought up past events that West would just as soon forget. One big one was when he said,during a 2005 live concert fundraiser for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." The other was when he interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Did Matt push it too far with the George Bush thing?

George Bush, as part of his book promotion for his new memoir, Decision Points, spoke in a series of interviews with Matt Lauer. With regard to when Kanye West called him a racist back in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Bush said, "I didn't appreciate it then, and I don't appreciate it now." "It's one of the most disgusting moments of my presidency," Bush went on to say.

Kanye West on the Today show responded to what Bush had to say. "I will tell George Bush, in my moment of frustration, that I didn't have the grounds to call him a racist, " said West.

But then Matt Lauer asked West to look at part of his interview with Bush, with the sound off. He asked that West look at Bush's face and take note of Bush's frustration. It proved to be too much for West who questioned why Lauer would ask him to do that instead of just dealing with the here and now.

"I've come here to say, I've made mistakes and I've grown as a person, and it's not as easy to box someone into a villain role or a race role. I did not have enough information in that situation to call him a racist. That might have been the emotion that I felt. But me being a rational, thought out, empathetic human being and thinking about it after the fact, I would have chosen different words," said West. "My motivation was from a good place."

If you've watched Lauer with other guests, some get pushed more than others. He recently had Dina Lohan, the mother of Lindsay Lohan, on as a guest. The first time mama Lohan was on, she was adamant that Lindsay Lohan was not a drug addict. Watch the tape, and Matt is very kind and gentle with her, even though what she was saying made little sense given what we've seen of Lohan. And when Dina Lohan came back a second time to eat crow, Lauer was just as gentle with her.

Whether George Bush is a racist or not, only George Bush knows. However, what Kanye West was expressing back in 2005 was also on the minds of other people, white and black. Bush himself said to Matt Lauer, appearing on Today after West appeared, "It wasn't just Kanye West who was talking like that during Katrina. I cited him as an example. I cited others as an example, as well." "Nobody wants to be called a racist if in your heart you believe in equality of race," Bush went on to say. When it comes to forgiving West, George Bush says he does.

Said one commenter over at MTV, "Let's put things in perspective here. I'm not a fan of West--never have been. But I saw him being grilled about a comment he made five years ago in a moment of tremendous frustration. And rightfully so. People were quite literally dying while waiting to be rescued in an incredibly wealthy country that had the resources to prevent their deaths. Check out Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke to get a better sense of what was really going on and how slowly the government responded. While people died on the streets, Bush was nowhere to be found. And the fact that Bush calls West's comment the worst moment of his presidency--not the fact that he failed the people of New Orleans or any number of Bush failures--is appalling to me."

Is Bush the sole one to blame, or are all levels to blame - local, state and federal? George Bush was the president, but Ray Nagin was the mayor. Is Nagin one of the people to blame, too?

Should Kanye West on the Today show have handled his emotions better?

Kanye West got upset that Lauer showed video of his interrupting Taylor Swift during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards right after showing the George Bush video. Lauer is correct when he says that showing video footage of the past is standard practice to assist with giving viewers information.

Whether Matt Lauer pushed West too far or not is up for debate. But West may want to think some more on his behavior. Staying calm, cool and collected during interviews, even if you don't want to, is not a bad thing. It's the hot head nature that gets him into trouble - calling George Bush a racist, interrupting Taylor Swift - acting on impulses.

Is it okay to express a thought that others may not agree with? Is the goal to become a robot that doesn't offend anyone? Part of what makes Kanye West unique is that he's not afraid to say what's on his mind. But his approaches need to change if he wants to dump the Drama King label for good.

Sources:

Kanye West: HELL NO, I Won't Perform on 'Today' , TMZ

Kanye West on Twitter

James Dinh, Kanye West's 'Today' Show Drama: Readers Weigh In, MTV

Kanye West on Today show

George Bush on Today show

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