It began, fittingly enough, with jazz from New Orleans natives Harry Connick Jr. and Wynton Marsalis. But “A Concert for Hurricane Relief,” a heartfelt and dignified benefit aired on NBC and other networks last night (Sept. 2), took an unexpected turn thanks to the outspoken rapper Kanye West.
Appearing two-thirds through the program, he claimed “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” and said America is set up “to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible.”
The show, simulcast from New York on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC and Pax, was aired live to the East Coast, enabling the Grammy-winning rapper’s outburst to go out uncensored. There was a several-second tape delay, but the person in charge “was instructed to listen for a curse word, and didn’t realize [West] had gone off-script,” said an NBC spokesperson.
West’s comment about the president was cut from NBC’s West Coast airing, which showed three hours later on tape.
Comedian Mike Myers was paired with West for a 90-second segment that began with Myers speaking of Katrina’s devastation. Then, to Myers’ evident surprise, West began a rant by saying, “I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it says they’re looting. See a white family, it says they’re looking for food.”
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