"As far as it being the worst moment of his presidency, you know, I can't really speak to that. But his take, his explanation, I completely agree with and I empathize with totally," West stated about his racist remark against Bush after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. However, the interview quickly turned sour when Lauer played a segment from a recent interview with Bush.
"I didn't need you guys to show me the tape in order to prompt my emotions or whatever," West snapped in the interview which was taped on Tuesday, November 9. "I don't need all the jazz... Can we be quiet for a second?... I'm here to man up to different mistakes that I made, and speak to the moment when I pegged George Bush as a racist. I came here to say that I made mistakes and I've grown as a person."
West lashed out again when "Today" cued another clip of him interrupting Taylor Swift at the 2009 Video Music Awards. "Yo, how am I supposed to talk if you're going to run the thing in the middle while I'm talking?" West said in an annoyed tone. "Please don't let that happen again. It's ridiculous."
After taping the interview, West took it to his Twitter page to slam Lauer and "Today" over the practice of showing old footage during interviews. "Let me tell you how they did me at the Today show... While I was trying to give the interview they started playing the MTV (clip) under me with audio!... I don't mess with Matt Lauer or the Today Show... and that's a very nice way for me to put it! He tried to force my answers," he wrote.
Calling the chat "brutal", West went on, "I came there with only positive intent. I feel very alone, very used, very tortured, very forced, very misunderstood, very hollow, very very misused. He played clips of Bush and asked me to look at his face while I was trying to talk to him. I wish Michael Jackson had twitter!!!!!!"
Kanye West Gets Upset on "Today" show: