[UPDATE: Last night Jimmy Kimmel issued a light-hearted response to Yeezy's Twitter rant, claiming the artist actually called him to vent his frustrations and propose to him an ultimatum. Certainly it begs the question of whether this is another meta hoax a la twerking girl fire scandal of weeks past, but you can be the judge and watch the response below.]
By now, we're all well aware of Kanye West's interview with BBC 1. More importantly, we're all aware of how flippant Kanye's demeanor was during the forthright sit-down--and how many millions of ways the comprehensive discussion was interpreted by the public. Just as he predicted, some called his sincerity pompous, others brilliant. But most seem to attribute it simply to Ye doing Ye. Then there are those of us who happen to be the faces of highly-rated late night shows on major networks. In steps Jimmy Kimmel with a hilarious skit (it is his job after all) mocking the interview with two kids running through some of Yeezy's more outlandish lines from the convo, fueling the flames of what was already an incendiary response from the masses and imputing a crude quality to the character of "the biggest rockstar of them all."
Wouldn't we be fools to assume that such a charge against Yeezy's character would go without some sort of reciprocation from the embattled artist? True to form, Ye delivered a torrent of highly contentious tweets in response to the frivolous skit pleading for some form of empathy from the late night TV host and attacking his former relationship with comedian Sarah Silverman, his lack of quality lady company and the uncanny resemblance of Jimmy's face to that of Ben Affleck's (we think?). It's true that Yeezy's response goes a bit off the path, but there is a very real underbelly to this exchange that speaks to media manipulation of celebrity and its dilution of whatever bit of truth might be conveyed through such a candid exchange. Kanye doesn't give interviews like this very often, and it can hardly be disputed that the man is one of the most important artists of a generation. So maybe when he decides to sit down and reveal to us some of the cold gospels of his fashion and art world endeavors (not to mention some insight into his prolific recording process,) we should allow that transmission to go through unfettered. Or maybe not. Wherever you stand on the subject of celebrity manipulation and the late night host's take on the interview, be sure to watch the interview in its entirety here and check below for Yeezy's furious tweeting retort.
