It took a Swift kick, with a good measure of kickback, to force hip-hop entertainer Kanye West to understand how President George W. Bush felt when West assailed him as a bigot. The realization prompted the controversial artist to apologize this week to the former president, just as he ended up apologizing to country star Taylor Swift after he elbowed his way into her spotlight after she received the Best Female Video statue at the Video Music Awards last year.
The negative reaction was swift — to the point of ostracization in some quarters — for his rough treatment of the teen singer, which he now says increased his sensitivity to evoke his regret to Bush for "playing the race card," he said during an interview with KBXX radio in Houston Wednesday, according to t
hecelebritycafe.com.
West’s slam at Bush came after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when he criticized slow federal response to the disaster and declared: "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
Apparently prompting the apology to the 43rd president was Bush’s comment Wednesday to NBC’s Matt Lauer during an interview about his soon-to-be-published memoir, “Decision Points.” In the book, Bush describes the remark as the low point of his presidency.
When Lauer asked whether that was his worst moment in office, the former president said, "Yes. My record was strong I felt when it came to race relations and giving people a chance. And it was a disgusting moment."
West realizes that now because of his own experience of the intense criticism after he pushed Swift aside, grabbed the mic, and insulted her at the awards show. He told The New York Times that he now can connect with Bush on a “human level.”
"With both situations, it was basically a lack of compassion that America saw in the situation. With him, it was a lack of compassion with not rushing, you know, him [Bush] not taking the time to rush down to New Orleans. With me, it was a lack of compassion of cutting someone off in their moment," West said during his KBXX interview.
Swift, known for turning personal encounters into songs, apparently has done that with West, too. Her song “Innocent” is widely believed to be about the incident with West, especially with the phrase “32 is still growing up now” because West was 32 when he crashed her stage and burned. The song, which she debuted at this year’s VMA show in September, adds a touch of forgiveness, proclaiming that “time turns flames to embers,” and some encouraging words: “Minds change like the weather — I hope you remember today is never late to be brand new.”
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