Mike Myers has spoken about the night he shared a stage with Kanye West on live television, during a telethon for Hurricane Katrina, when the rapper cause controversy with the comment, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
The controversial comments made headlines worldwide during “A Concert for Hurrican Relief” in September 2005.
Myers, who has given West a cameo in his latest movie ‘The Love Guru’, can now laugh about the moment, telling Moviefone, “I went to the Katrina telethon because I was very moved by the plight of the people in New Orleans and I wanted to make a difference. I think that the frustration that Kanye expressed was valid.”
Myers adds jokingly, “I just think you gotta tell a feller you’re gonna say it. Just tell a feller, would ya?”
Watch a video of that moment below.
A transcript of West’s comments are below:
“I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, ‘They’re looting.’ You see a white family, it says, ‘They’re looking for food.’ And, you know, it’s been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I’ve tried to turn away from the TV because it’s too hard to watch. I’ve even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I’m calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help�with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way�and they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us!
George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
