Kanye West says his recent tirade against Jimmy Kimmel was the result of all his frustrations with tabloids and paparazzi, and he is just desperate for the media to respect him and his family.
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West appeared on Wednesday night's Jimmy Kimmel Live broadcast to talk things out with Kimmel after the pair got into a very public feud over a spoof skit that rubbed the rapper and self-described "creative genius" the wrong way.
West had previously called Kimmel and demanded the host apologize on-air for disrespecting him, but Kimmel refused -- resulting in West launching a profanity-filled Twitter tirade and Kimmel opting to poke fun at the rapper's offensive tweets on his show.
"When I saw the skit, which I didn't even watch all the way through because I didn't want to be infuriated, I said, 'Well I know you.' So a combination of me knowing you, but also me not knowing the person who put a bad headline on the cover of In Touch... I was like, 'Well this is the one person I know!' So I can go and let out everything that I feel about every single bogus weekly cover, every single bogus skit, every single rumor and barbershop," West told Kimmel.
"Everything that people feel is okay to treat celebrities like zoo animals or act like what they're saying isn't that serious or their life isn't that serious or their dreams are not serious, and it kind of just went and elevated from a call that we just had as men. That elevates sometimes. If you take a guy like Jimmy, you know, Jimmy does his thing, and I do my thing, and at a certain point, these egos can flare up and everything. We kind of just took it back to high school for a little bit and that's just what happened."
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Kimmel's spoof was based on West's recent egocentric interview with BBC Radio 1 in Britain in which he had referred to himself as "the No. 1 rock star on the planet" and put himself on the same level as the iconic Michael Jackson. Kimmel played up West's arrogant remarks by having a child read a transcript of what West had said in a music studio while humorously sipping on a milkshake in between his long-winded speeches for his show.
West had previously tweeted insults such as, "JIMMY KIMMEL IS OUT OF LINE TO TRY AND SPOOF IN ANY WAY THE FIRST PIECE OF HONEST MEDIA IN YEARS... JIMMY KIMMEL, I DON'T TAKE IT AS A JOKE.... PUT YOURSELF IN MY SHOES -- OH NO THAT MEANS YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN TOO MUCH GOOD PUSSY IN YOUR LIFE."
During West's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, he continued, "As a celebrity, I've reached the ceiling. And the way paparazzi talk to me and my family is disrespectful, you know what I'm saying? We bring something of joy to the world. When people hear my music, they have a good time. And I should be respected as such when I walk down the street."
"Don't ask me a question about something you saw in a tabloid. Don't try to antagonize me, because you know what? It's not safe for you in this zoo. Never think that I'm not from Chicago for one second and think you can walk up and disrespect me and my family constantly."
Added the boyfriend of Kim Kardashian and her child North West's father, "And people say, 'Well, you signed up to be a celebrity! Blah, blah, blah.' It's like, you know what?! And I understand paparazzi. I understand you gotta get your money, it's hard out here -- blah, blah, blah. But let's have respect for each other. You do help me get money, paparazzi, you know what I'm saying? You show people how fresh my outfit is that helps me influence people!... It's a lack of decency."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski