# Why does Kanye West continue to try and test the boundaries of assholish behavior? \[VMA Spoiler\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 14, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991 "2009-09-14T01:55:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/41 "2009-09-14T11:53:27Z")
Serious question: where are all these videos being shown these days? I know the old joke about how the ‘M’ in MTV _used_ to stand for ‘music’…but I watched the opening 10 minutes of the VMA re-broadcast (total waste of time) and I realized that I hadn’t seen any of the videos up for awards. Then it hit me: I wouldn’t know _where_ to go to watch them if I wanted to! ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/42 "2009-09-14T12:00:28Z")
The same place as everything else: Youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/43 "2009-09-14T12:17:33Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > [Kanye seems to have apologized.](http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1621410/20090914/west_kanye.jhtml) on his blog. He’d have to learn how to type first. If the spelling is correct, someone did it for him. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/44 "2009-09-14T12:22:04Z")
I would have preferred “Taylor Swift’s video sucked” but “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time” isn’t bad. Kanye West spoke “truth to power” and what’s wrong with that? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/45 "2009-09-14T12:22:16Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > The same place as everything else: Youtube. Yeah, OK. In other words, MTV now holds an awards show honoring videos they don’t even show anymore. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/46 "2009-09-14T12:26:38Z")
Missed the edit window This is what happens when you combine a few elements. Take a complete lack of civility, a lack of intelligence, raging ego, and a desire for the spotlight. He probably can’t remember the last time someone told him “no”. The fact that anyone pays attention to him, much less touts him as a “brilliant artist” tells you much about the disconnect between the group of people that take him seriously and the one that doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/47 "2009-09-14T12:31:10Z")
> [@Evil\_One](#): > > He’d have to learn how to type first. If the spelling is correct, someone did it for him. I followed the link. Clearly he did it himself. The website was kind enough to put it in “sentence case” for him though. Perhaps he can buy some remedial tutoring on puctuation with all that “bank” he has. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/48 "2009-09-14T12:31:33Z")
Can someone give me a brief explanation of Mr. West’s statement on his blog about his giving his award to Outkast? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/49 "2009-09-14T12:32:20Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Kanye West spoke “truth to power” and what’s wrong with that? It was boorish, childish, nonsensical and self-indulgent for a start. ---
**Author:** ![kjckjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@kjckjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjckjc)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/50 "2009-09-14T12:35:01Z")
I think he was mad that “[Thug Story](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So48F5Tt9Tw)” is better than anything he has ever produced. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/51 "2009-09-14T12:40:24Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > I would have preferred “Taylor Swift’s video sucked” but “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time” isn’t bad. Kanye West spoke “truth to power” and what’s wrong with that? Hmmm, the troll support usually shows up within 20 posts. It took 44 this time. I assume the next support post will mention how Kanye was “keepin’ it real”. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/52 "2009-09-14T13:04:00Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > I would have preferred “Taylor Swift’s video sucked” but “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time” isn’t bad. Kanye West spoke “truth to power” and what’s wrong with that? Preference of one over the other is opinion not truth. I’m not sure there is any “power” to be speaking to. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/53 "2009-09-14T13:12:12Z")
It is a trend. The VMA’s had madonna and Britney french kissing two years ago. They had Sarah Silverman bashing Britney after that, and that kept the interest up. Then Sacha Baron Cohen teabagged Eminem. And now this. Some publicist found out, and he’s quite right, that nothing keeps the interest in a show going like some juicy personal controversy. Drawing in a high number of celebs is no longer enough; drawing in celebs in really expensive clothing or really skimpy clothing no longer enough. No. Nowadays you gotta have a celeb _trainwreck_ to keep people interested. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/54 "2009-09-14T13:30:08Z")
Not to turn this into a gender thing, but there’s no way he would have gone up there and taken the mic from a guy, in defense of a guy. Total paternalistic machismo going on here. It’s disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/55 "2009-09-14T13:43:00Z")
> [@Chanteuse](#): > > [Beyonce](http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1621406/20090913/knowles_beyonce.jhtml) displays the class that KW so obviously lacks. Good for her. My fiancee was watching the VMAs in the bedroom while I watched the much more culturally relevant and socially responsible Sunday Night Football in the living room. “Hey, come here!” she yelled, “Kanye West is doing something stupid!” “Busy!” “You missed it!” “Don’t worry, there will be another one along in a minute.” [QUOTE=Stephe96] Serious question: where are all these videos being shown these days? I know the old joke about how the ‘M’ in MTV used to stand for ‘music’…but I watched the opening 10 minutes of the VMA re-broadcast (total waste of time) and I realized that I hadn’t seen any of the videos up for awards. Then it hit me: I wouldn’t know where to go to watch them if I wanted to! [/QUOTE] Oh, good, an easy one. Wait six years and they’ll be on VH-1. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/56 "2009-09-14T13:50:35Z")
I’m another one voting for staged. The VMAs stage one stupid, try-to-be-jaw-dropping event for each award show. Sometimes all the participants are not clued in. I don’t think Eminem was in on the teabagging and I’m not sure poor Taylor was in on it either, because she really did look like she wanted to cry. Then again, she and Beyonce wore matching dresses and the camera was set up juuuust right for the two up on stage, and both Beyonce and Taylor are actresses. . … Totally staged. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/57 "2009-09-14T14:07:40Z")
I just wonder Kanye West is relevant at all. He speaks like an idiot, his “music” is comprised of 5th grade grammar and vocabulary, and he constantly makes an ass out of himself. Is having him in the spotlight some sort of social experiment some marketing exec is performing: “Let’s find the stupidest shit we can, market the hell out of it and see if the masses buy it. How low can we go?” ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/58 "2009-09-14T14:09:05Z")
\*\*Biggirl, \*\*I don’t think I should Google “Eminem and teabagging” here at work. What are you talking about? (Yeah, I’m an old fart, who’s not up on the times. :)) Kanye was an ass. I vote not staged. ---
**Author:** ![Paleface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Paleface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paleface)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/59 "2009-09-14T14:10:09Z")
> [@](#): > > DETROIT - There was no mourning at this funeral. > Hundreds of onlookers cheered Monday afternoon as the NAACP put to rest a long-standing expression of racism by holding a public burial for the N-word during its annual convention. > The ceremony included a march by delegates from across the country from downtown Detroit’s Cobo Center to Hart Plaza. Along the way, two Percheron horses pulled a pine box adorned with a bouquet of fake black roses. > The coffin will be placed at Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery and will have a headstone. > “Today we’re not just burying the N-word, we’re taking it out of our spirit,” said Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. “We gather burying all the things that go with the N-word. We have to bury the ’pimps’ and the ’hos’ that go with it.” > He continued: “Die, N-word, and we don’t want to see you ’round here no more.” > > [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19680493/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19680493/) Well, it was a good idea, but the N-word got resurected (again) last night. > **[MTV | Homepage - Shows & Schedules](https://www.mtv.com/?xrs=PPM-18-10caf1c)** > > MTV brings viewers the best in lifestyle and competition reality shows, plus live events featuring the biggest names in entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991/60 "2009-09-14T14:18:48Z")
Sascha Baron Cohen did a promotional bit for _Bruno_ at last year’s VMAs by putting on a harness and fake wings and having himself lowered from the ceiling (nude, or nude-ish) onto Eminem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kanye-west-continue-to-try-and-test-the-boundaries-of-assholish-behavior-vma-spoiler/509991.md?page=4)