Piers Morgan was finally driven off of CNN last May after more than three years of insufferable commentary on American issues from a man who refused to assimilate to American culture. But that hasn't stopped the tabloid veteran from hurting one of our greatest stars in his Daily Mail column.
Today Morgan became the last advocate Kanye West needs in a column titled, "Kanye West is the Muhammad Ali of showbusiness—cocky, dangerous, unpredictable, fearless, eloquent and the world's greatest star." It's full of surprisingly great points from a man who let George Zimmerman's brother use his show as an unchecked platform for defense. But in defending Kanye he's brought his own issues into Kanye's corner unsolicited. It's like your mom liking your favorite rapper, if your mom were a obnoxious talking head who tried to question Touré's journalistic credibility in a petty response to valid criticism about the Zimmerman interview.
Showing his knowledge of all things Kanye, Morgan enlisted the help of Wikipedia for his introduction. That's journalism 101.
"Who IS Kanye West?
That’s a question most of us have at some stage asked ourselves, and there is no simple answer.
His Wikipedia entry describes him as a 'rapper, songwriter, record producer, director, entrepreneur and fashion designer.'
To which you could add ‘movie star, TV personality, video creator, businessman, and world’s most famous husband.’
Or 'braggart, jerk, egomaniac, self-publicity hound.'"
You could also use those last four descriptions for Morgan.
"Today, a video emerged of a speech Kanye gave at the BET Honors event, where he was recognized for being the 'Visionary' of the year.
In just eight minutes, and speaking without notes, he managed to be funny, warm, eloquent, charming, provocative, insightful, compassionate, thought-provoking, challenging, and self-mocking."
Those adjectives... not so much.
Morgan went on to outline and defend Kanye's many controversial moments—from the George Bush comments to the Beck interruption—before concluding:
"He may get mocked, berated, abused and become the butt of talk show jokes when he frequently blows up.
But I’ve come to realize that he's the Muhammad Ali of showbusiness: The single most fascinating, compelling, unpredictable, dangerous and uniquely talented star in the world.
Long may he rock our boats."
Yes, Piers, this is all true. But now that you've said it you've given Kanye's critics more fodder. Enough people hate you that they'll attack anything you say. They'll fire back at these points solely because of the source. Barack Obama has the same problem with conservatives, and that's why he isn't as outspoken on race as his supporters would like him to be. "Obama's supporters often want to see their president 'leading,' but the White House knows that when Obama leads, his critics become even less likely to follow," Vox's Ezra Klein wrote. "The evidence political scientists have gathered documenting this dynamic is overwhelming."
This is apparently the best & worst @DailyMail column I have ever written: http://t.co/VStZMmQU1w #Kanye
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 24, 2015So if you dig Kanye that's cool, Piers. But the best thing you could do is shut the fuck up about it.
[via Daily Mail]
