Kanye West

Kanye West’s new song, launched on May 17, compared consumerism to slavery. “What you want, a Bentley? Fur coat? A diamond chain?” he rapped. “New slaves.”

In his nearly two minute long song, West ranted about corporations and consumerism. “F*** you and your corporations,” he rapped. “I know that we the new slaves.”

On Nov. 28, 2012, Forbes released a report on the 25 highest paid musicians of the year. Ironically enough, four of this year’s top earners were outspoken supporters of the Occupy Wall Street Movement last year. Apparently they didn’t see hypocrisy of being a top earner in an industry while speaking out against other top earners.

Rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West have once again expressed their love of gratuitous violence. The pair has released a new music video, “No Church in the Wild,” depicting a violent riot, with police and rioters engaging in full-scale mayhem.  

“No Church in the Wild” opens with a protestor throwing a Molotov cocktail at police. The violence only escalates from there; the video is a patchwork of firebombs, fights, and destruction.

Occupy Wall Street attacks income inequality and the richest 1 percent, adopting as its slogan ''we are the 99 percent.'' In October, its protesters staged a ''millionaires march' 'in New York City, parading to the homes of wealthy citizens such as Rupert Murdoch and David Koch. But only some riches bother the Occupiers, who have ignored the massive wealth of celebrities in their own ranks.

The top 25 richest celebrities supporting Occupy Wall Street, according to the website Celebrity Net Worth, possess a combined net worth just over $4 billion.

On Tuesday, NewsBusters told you about some of the wealthy television news anchors hypocritically supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement.

As an interesting follow-up, Brian Warner of Celebrity Net Worth has published a list of the top ten richest celebrities that have as of now officially backed the protesters:

As NewsBusters has been reporting, the anchors of the various broadcast news programs have enthusiastically thrown their support behind the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Given a report from CNN Money Monday that the protesters are planning on marching on the homes of New York's millionaires, some of these television personalities might want to think twice:

Ladies, Kanye West isn't interested in your mind. Or your soul, for that matter.

A sneak peek at the Kanye West video for his new single “Monster” revealed that there is no place this sick “artist” won’t go. The macabre 30-second trailer shows the rapper making sexual advances to a dead or drugged female corpse in his bed, and several dead, lingerie-clad women are seen hanging with chains around their necks.

Video below fold

As NewsBusters has been reporting all week, the media have used the occasion of George W. Bush's published memoirs "Decision Points" to rekindle their hatred for the 43rd president.

Not surprisingly, NBC's "Saturday Night Live" took its shots at Bush by uniting him with Kanye West during "Weekend Update" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Football fans watching NBC on Sunday night were presented a brief commercial at halftime for Monday night's NBC interview with former president George W. Bush. Liberals might have been disgusted, since Matt Lauer's only question was to ask Bush to explain how military families supported his war policies. But on Thursday, Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post picked up on an earlier NBC promotion, that showed how Lauer pushed Bush around about charges of racism surrounding Hurricane Katrina, and even suggested that Bush taking offense at rapper Kanye West's racism charges (on NBC's airwaves) as the “worst moment” of his presidency was heartless, since the actual suffering of the Gulf Coast residents should have won that title.

Can anyone imagine an NBC anchor asking Barack Obama if he was heartless because he cared about his own reputation more than the people he's caused to suffer? First, NBC liberals don't think anyone is suffering because of Obama, and second, that would be rude to a fellow liberal. Here's how it will unfold tonight in prime time:

Rap star Kanye West bashed former President George W. Bush on Saturday while apologizing to country singer Taylor Swift for his appalling behavior at last year's MTV Video Awards.

Our story begins with West making a fool of himself - again! - when he interrupted Swift last September during her acceptance speech for best female music video of 2009 (right).

With the 2010 Awards quickly approaching, West must have felt it necessary to make amends.

As People.com reported moments ago, West took to Twitter early Saturday morning issuing a bizarre stream of consciousness apology:

When Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans in 2005, numerous media members blamed racism for President Bush's supposedly poor response to the disaster.

According to LexisNexis, there were almost 1,000 reports in the nine weeks following the storm's passage through the Gulf of Mexico that tied racism to the government's post-hurricane strategy.

Five years later, as oil slams the same region and polls show the public actually more unhappy with the response to this crisis than they were after Katrina hit, no such nefarious connection is being espoused.

Why?

Consider the media firestorm the following remark by rapper Kanye West set off just a few days after the hurricane hit New Orleans (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Those attempting to equate Congressman Joe Wilson’s "You lie!" outburst to the outrages of Serena Williams and Kanye West are missing the mark. He was rude, and no, he oughtn’t have done it – there. Let us understand clearly the distinction. Wilson may be rude, but Williams and West (especially) are pigs.

At the semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Serena Williams drew nearly universal condemnation for screaming profanities at a line judge who (wrongly) ruled her foot was over the line on a serve. It wasn’t just obscenities, it was threats of physical violence, with Williams suggesting she would shove a tennis ball down "your f—ing throat" to the referee. Her performance was so vile that even historic tennis bad boy John McEnroe called it beyond the pale.

Had Wilson yelled that he was going to shove something down President Obama’s blankety-blank throat, then we’d have a similarity. But why did Williams feel free to uncork a massive fit? Maybe because there are no consequences. She was assessed a $10,000 fine, less than a slap on the wrist. She won more than half a million dollars at that tournament alone.

Remember the idiot who four years ago shortly after Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans said on national television that "George Bush doesn't care about black people?"

Well, on Sunday night, rapper Kanye West made a fool of himself again, this time storming the stage at MTV's Video Music Awards and interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for winning this year's Best Female Video.

In front of a stunned crowd, West said singer Beyoncé was more deserving of the award.

As reported by Rolling Stone (video embedded below the fold): 

On CNN Sunday, Howard Kurtz asked his "Reliable Sources" guests if Fox News's Glenn Beck should be fired for calling President Obama a racist.

As he pressed the issue, Kurtz must have forgotten how much attention his own network gave to Kanye West's claim in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that "George Bush does not care about black people."

In fact, in the weeks following the destruction of New Orleans, CNN hosts, anchors, contributors, and guests spoke openly about West's remarks, as well as whether or not the government's response to that disaster was racist.

Despite this, Kurtz asked his guests the following questions Sunday (video embedded below the fold):

As the city of Denver prepares for this week's Democratic convention, numerous Hollywood celebs are planning to attend in support of Barack Obama and to advocate for pet issues. Gushes Variety,

When Barack Obama accepts the nomination before some 75,000 people at a Denver stadium on Thursday, he'll be surrounded by a contingent of average Americans from all walks of life --- just not Hollywood performers, musicians and other famous figures who have so publicly championed his candidacy.

So what, exactly, will be the role of celebrity during the week of the Democratic National Convention?

Remember the high and mighty rapper named Kanye West who during a telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims in September 2005 had the nerve to say on national television "George Bush doesn't care about black people?"

Well, the man media gushed over for weeks as a result of this disgraceful display apparently doesn't like receiving reviews of his concerts that give him anything less than an A-plus.

As such, on Friday, he posted a vulgarity-laden response to Entertainment Weekly which had the nerve to only rate his recent performance at the Seattle Key Arena a B-plus.

Even more absurd, according to TMZ.com, some time after posting his tirade, West edited out the most virulent of his invective:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R-Iran)

This week, Alan Colmes proved, yet again, that Fox News has its own liberals willing to say crazy things. The host asserted that right-wingers should have embraced the visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad because the dictator is a "conservative" like them.

Those Hateful Republicans

Speaking of angry liberals, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann has claimed that the reason that "white wing" Republican presidential candidates are skipping minority debates is because they want to re-segregate America. Of course, given the host’s insensitive comments during a football broadcast, perhaps he shouldn’t be throwing stones.

Viacom-owned MTV has recently rolled out "Think MTV," a new community interaction site oriented toward student activism. Imagine "Facebook" with a social-activist theme. Exploring the site quickly reveals that MTV's notion of social activism has a decided liberal tint.

The home page lists a dozen major areas for potential activism. Click on "Politics" and -- what do you know! -- the first photo that pops up is one of John Edwards looking pensively toward the future. Three videos on political themes are displayed. The only one from a named author is by . . . Kanye West [the rapper who during the 2004 election famously claimed that "Bush doesn't care about black people."] Other celebrities involved with Think MTV: Bono, Jay-Z, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chris Rock. Do you detect a trend?

On Monday’s "Nightline," co-anchor Terry Moran spent almost the entire 30 minute program gushing over Bush-bashing rapper Kanye West. The ABC host asserted that West’s 2005 comment that "George Bush doesn’t care about black people" turned West "into a cultural force to be reckoned with" and extolled the "complex and thoughtful pop star." Moran even opened the program by asking, "What went through [West's] mind when he blasted the President in the wake of Katrina?" The co-anchor breathlessly wondered, "Would he say it again?"

Moran could hardly be more effusive in his adulation for the rapper. During the course of the program, he rhapsodized that West "is more than merely popular. He's a very interesting figure on the cultural landscape, a complex icon of music and style." Dropping all pretext of objectivity, Moran lauded the performer, who essentially called President Bush a racist, as "a shrewd and self-reflective observer of America's racial politics" and someone who has "got a lot to say." The ABC host briefly played music critic and marveled at West’s "complex and intricate rap lyrics." It’s probably not surprising that, during a discussion over whether the rapper is boastful, West complimented Moran as "definitely one of the better reporters who have interviewed me."