President Barack Obama called Kanye West a “jackass” after West interrupted Taylor Swift during her award acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards.
President Obama calls Kanye West a "jackass" for interrupting Taylor Swift.
The Kanye West jackass remark by Obama happened when the president was chatting off the record with John Harwood of CNBC about the Kanye West-Taylor Swift incident at the VMAs. Taylor Swift had won the Best Female Video award for “You Belong with Me” when Kanye West interrupted, took the mic, and said that Beyonce should have won for “Single Ladies”.
When asked whether his daughters were annoyed at West, the president replied:
“I thought that was really inappropriate,” Obama says. “What are you butting in [for]? The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person. She’s getting her award. What’s he doing up there?”
When asked why West would interrupt Swift, Obama replied:
“He’s a jackass.”
Though everyone laughed, President Obama realized quickly that he may have gone too far. He lightly reminds the crew that his remark should be kept private. He added:
“Come on guys. Cut the president some slack. I’ve got a lot of other stuff on my plate.”
The Kanye West jackass remark by Obama was heard by ABC employees because ABC and CNBC share a fiber optic line to cut costs. Not knowing that it was off the record, these ABC employees immediately tweeted the “Kanye West is a jackass” remark by Obama, which the network apologized for immediately.
