Russell Simmons Defends Kanye's Bush Comments

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Simmons: 'Kanye Has No Need To Apologise'


Hip-hop mogul RUSSELL SIMMONS has urged KANYE WEST not to change his ways following his disastrous interview on U.S. TV last week (ends12Nov10), encouraging him to "keep on" in an open letter to the embattled star.

The Stronger hitmaker sat down with Today presenter Matt Lauer last week (begs08Nov10) in an effort to publicly reply to disparaging comments made against him by former U.S. leader George W. Bush, who branded the moment West called him a racist on live TV as the "most disgusting" period of his presidency.

But the chat didn't go as planned and West accused Lauer of trying to manipulate his answers during the uncomfortable interview, which the hip-hop star claimed left him feeling "alone, used and tortured".

The controversy has prompted many critics to take aim at West's behaviour, but Simmons insists the rapper has "no need to apologise" because he was simply expressing his feelings as best he knew how.

In the heartfelt note, posted on GlobalGrind.com, Simmons maintains West was simply voicing a shared sense of abandonment in the African American community when he blasted Bush as a racist during a telethon for the victims of 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

He writes, "When you spoke about President Bush during the Katrina telethon, it was not the particulars of your words that mattered, it was the essence of a feeling of the insensitivity towards our communities that many of us have felt for far too long.

"It was the image of the President, our President... peering out the window of an airplane, as the people on the ground were drowning, that hurt us the most. For centuries, our people have relentlessly tread water (sic) as hard as they could to stay afloat, and here we were, literally drowning, and it felt like the President was insensitive.

"There is no need to apologise, Kanye. You spoke from your heart and that is all we will ever ask from you. Don't be afraid of the press, as your art is your blueprint... Keep on, Kanye. Keep on. We love you. We cherish you. And we will always have your back."

[JumpinJack AJ]

I thought the apology was necessary. I mean, he said something stupid. We all occasionally do or say things out of emotion or the moment and often times they aren't the best thing to do/say. It's people who regularly show that they don't have a filter who simply aren't emotionally mature. Kanye usually does and say really dumb stuff and then he follows with a lame apology or statement. After so many stupid things, his apologizes don't hold much weight. To me, he's just an immature fool who only cares about himself and how he feels. He'll continue to say ignorant things like the Bush comment, do stupid things like rush VMA stages, and have outbursts in airports and think that saying "sorry" for this regular like this will make it all better. I just don't respect him as a person. And it's not like is music is dope anymore. His beats aren't really good anymore. His voice is annoying and his lyrics were never very good. His latest single is basically a tribute to himself. I take it as him sayin "yeah, I'm a douche bag and I don't care."

[VIsqo]

Yeah, he needed to apologize. But now he is saying that all the interview with the daily show was staged and that he was instructed to do and say those things..

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It gets me mad when people say that MC Hammer defending from what Jay-Z said is gimmick but yet they back Kanye for making ignorant comments, these so called hip hop heads need to straight their act out