The stunt Kanye West said was “detrimental to my career”
Kanye West is a controversial figure, and since his 2022 meltdown, he has been at the centre of various scandals. From anti-semitism to workplace abuse, the rapper has faced many allegations.
Most recently, his former employees have sued him for allegedly calling them “new slaves”, and his wife Bianca Censori has been accused of sending hardcore pornography to staff, including minors. However, after the release of his Vultures album series earlier this year, he is still loved by his fans.
That said, some of his stans love him no matter what he does, and he has done many bizarre and slightly disrespectful things in his career. In 2005, the horrific, harrowing natural disaster that was Hurricane Katrina swept through the state of Louisiana and wiped out the city of New Orleans.
However, after the rather lacklustre response from then-President George W Bush, during an hour-long, celebrity-driven televised benefit concert, West, in a heated manner, audaciously declared, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people!”
Unfortunately, this is one of many stunts the rapper has pulled over the years. In 2009, West jumped on the stage of the VMAs during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for the ‘Music Video Of The Year’ and began ranting about how Beyoncé deserved the award, implying that Taylor Swift shouldn’t have won.
Despite all of the above, there is only one act that the Chicago native regrets, and it was at an event that few know about. In a 2008 interview with the online magazine Hot Press, West reflected on his previous album Graduation.
West has received awards from around the world, and in 2006, he received was ready to accept the award for ‘Best Music Video’ at the MTV Europe Awards. However, he didn’t win and as a result, invaded the stage in Cophenhagen after losing to Justice and Simian.
Although he won the ‘Ultimate Urban Act’ at the 2008 award show, when asked whether he was haunted by his acts from two years prior, the College Dropout creator admitted he was and deeply regretted doing it.
Revealing this, the emcee told Hot Press, “Man, that was detrimental to my career. It actually provided some of the inspiration for Graduation. Like, that which doesn’t kill me can only make me stronger.”
He continued, “That moment at that awards show was on my mind. And it wasn’t losing the award. It was the fact that it was fixed, and nobody would stand up and say that. No one was like, ‘Yo, we did tell Kanye he was going to win, but he didn’t.'”
Hearing that he was told a lie makes his reaction more understandable. However, it led to him creating ‘Stronger’ one of his most popular songs. You can watch Kanye Storming the 2006 MTV Europe Awards stage in the video below.