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No wonder NASCAR is so popular...
"The National Football League is refusing to punt Kanye West, despite the rapper's controversial trashing of President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina.
The NFL stood by the hip-hop star Tuesday at a Los Angeles press conference announcing the talent lineup for the upcoming Opening Kickoff special this Thursday. The roster still includes the Chicago-based rapper, who made waves Friday when he ignored the TelePrompTer and lashed out at the White House response to hurricane victims during NBC's live telethon, saying "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
The network edited out West's remark from the West Coast rebroadcast and hastily issued a press release that said that the "Gold Digger" rapper's "opinions in no way represent the views of the network." West was asked several times to comment on his remarks at the NFL press conference, but declined to address the issue, saying that between the hurricane and the controversy, it created "a lot of pressure for one human being."
"I don't want to detract from the show at all, because it's entertainment, and a lot of times, in a time of need, we need entertainment to lift people's spirits," West added.
League spokesman Brian McCarthy, meanwhile, told the Los Angeles Times that West "expressed an unscripted opinion." Performers, McCarthy said, were selected "for their entertainment value, not their political views."
Steve Brener, a rep for the event, did not yet know what songs West is planning to perform during his "medley," aside from a version of "Heard 'Em Say," but it's a safe bet the Time magazine cover subject will not be performing the new track "Crack Music," in which he raps, "Who gave Saddam anthrax?/George Bush got the answers." In any case, West's performance will be taped 20 minutes before the show comes on live, then will be edited into the telecast.
Some football fans are having an increasingly difficult time buying the league's position regarding halftime and preshow talent tapped by the NFL in its quest to lure increasingly a younger and more diverse demographic. Last month, many pigskin faithful of the conservative ilk were outraged that the league was launching a campaign featuring the Rolling Stones, whose latest release, A Bigger Bang, features a scathing indictment of the Bush administration in the form of the track "Sweet Neo Con."
The Los Angeles Times suggested the league hasn't learned any lessons after suffering backlash in the wake of Janet Jackson's Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" incident last year or Nicollette Sheridan's towel-dropping segment preceding a Monday Night Football game last November.
Perhaps it's easier for the NFL to back West now that the Grammy-winning artist is the hottest thing in music...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20050907/en_music_eo/17304
"The National Football League is refusing to punt Kanye West, despite the rapper's controversial trashing of President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina.
The NFL stood by the hip-hop star Tuesday at a Los Angeles press conference announcing the talent lineup for the upcoming Opening Kickoff special this Thursday. The roster still includes the Chicago-based rapper, who made waves Friday when he ignored the TelePrompTer and lashed out at the White House response to hurricane victims during NBC's live telethon, saying "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
The network edited out West's remark from the West Coast rebroadcast and hastily issued a press release that said that the "Gold Digger" rapper's "opinions in no way represent the views of the network." West was asked several times to comment on his remarks at the NFL press conference, but declined to address the issue, saying that between the hurricane and the controversy, it created "a lot of pressure for one human being."
"I don't want to detract from the show at all, because it's entertainment, and a lot of times, in a time of need, we need entertainment to lift people's spirits," West added.
League spokesman Brian McCarthy, meanwhile, told the Los Angeles Times that West "expressed an unscripted opinion." Performers, McCarthy said, were selected "for their entertainment value, not their political views."
Steve Brener, a rep for the event, did not yet know what songs West is planning to perform during his "medley," aside from a version of "Heard 'Em Say," but it's a safe bet the Time magazine cover subject will not be performing the new track "Crack Music," in which he raps, "Who gave Saddam anthrax?/George Bush got the answers." In any case, West's performance will be taped 20 minutes before the show comes on live, then will be edited into the telecast.
Some football fans are having an increasingly difficult time buying the league's position regarding halftime and preshow talent tapped by the NFL in its quest to lure increasingly a younger and more diverse demographic. Last month, many pigskin faithful of the conservative ilk were outraged that the league was launching a campaign featuring the Rolling Stones, whose latest release, A Bigger Bang, features a scathing indictment of the Bush administration in the form of the track "Sweet Neo Con."
The Los Angeles Times suggested the league hasn't learned any lessons after suffering backlash in the wake of Janet Jackson's Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" incident last year or Nicollette Sheridan's towel-dropping segment preceding a Monday Night Football game last November.
Perhaps it's easier for the NFL to back West now that the Grammy-winning artist is the hottest thing in music...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20050907/en_music_eo/17304
