Kanye West Interrupts Obama Speech to Investment Bankers

NEW YORK, September 14, 2009 -- Kanye West interrupted President Obama's speech to the New York City investment banking community today, grabbing the microphone just as the President was launching into prepared remarks about the need for regulatory reform of America's financial markets.

"I know we're all gathered here today to discuss financial regulatory reform," Mr. West said, after seizing the microphone from the President's podium. "And I respect that."

The singer, dressed in sunglasses and a sequin-studded jacket, glanced to his side and continued. "So, excuse me, please," he said, lowering the microphone and casting a searching gaze around the auditorium before returning the mike to his lips.

"But I have something to say."

Members of the audience, comprised mainly of executives from large banks and Wall Street investment firms, could be seen looking at one another in confusion, shrugging their shoulders, and reaching for their Blackberries. A few rolled their eyes.

"Don't get me wrong!" Mr. West said, raising his voice, "I'm all for regulatory reform of our financial markets."

"But for Kanye," Mr. West continued, "the issues are bigger than that."

Mr. West then launched into an extended dramatic monologue, which began with the events of the evening before, when he interrupted Taylor Swift as she was accepting the award for Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

"Taylor Swift is a talented young lady," Mr. West explained to the gathered Wall Street executives. "But she's only 19. Her entire career is in front of her."

"But Beyonce," Mr. West said, pausing for effect. "Beyonce is the queen."

Mr. West then put his microphone down, lowered his sunglasses, and looked out at the audience.

"Tell me who this guy is again?" Lloyd C. Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, said to Richard S. Fuld, Jr., the CEO of Lehman Holdings, Inc., who was seated next to him.

"No idea," Fuld replied.

Mr. West continued his monologue, discussing such varied subjects as his relationship with his mother, his genius for self-promotion, and that one time he took forever to come on stage, all in a melodic and syncopated style that kept a steady beat. Midway through his recitation, he was joined by three female backup singers, a dj who scratched out a hip-hop beat, a drummer, a saxophonist, and a trumpet player.

Mr. West finished to tepid applause, murmurs, and the sound of throat-clearing.

Mr. West's impromptu remarks received a mixed reception among the Wall Street executives gathered to hear Mr. Obama speak about the state of the economic recovery and the need for industry reform.

"He's definitely got something," said Timothy Geithner, the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, who was sitting in the front row of the auditorium to hear the President's speech. "It's just difficult to say what that something is."

Others said they didn't mind the interruption, as it gave them a chance to catch up on their e-mail, or check the latest market conditions on their Blackberries and Iphones. Others said they thought Mr. West had talent, and that he only needed to find his direction as an artist.

"Art is about communicating something universal to your audience," Bank of America Chairman Ken Lewis said, emphasizing a point that many of the executives made. "You can't just talk about yourself the whole time."

Erin Callan, former Chief Financial Officer of Lehman Brothers, said she was familiar with Mr. West's work, but was disappointed in his performance. "With Kanye, it's usually about something larger," she said. "But this seemed to be all about Kanye, and nothing more than that, really," she said.

The President, for his part, seemed unperturbed, saying only that he thought it a little odd that a popular entertainer was interrupting him during an important public policy speech.

"It was unusual," the President said, "but Kanye has promised me it won't happen again."

Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, immediately criticized the President's remarks, claiming he should take a harder line.

"For anyone to interrupt the President while he is speaking is an outrage," Mr. Steele said, "and shows great disrespect for the office of the Presidency. We as a nation should not tolerate this kind of behavior."

Taylor Swift could not be reached for comment.

Follow Sean Carman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/seancarman

Comments

[deusXmchna]

Okay, while I initially didn't find the article that humorous- the replies it generated more than made up for any shortcomings I felt were evident both in the article, and in the execution of the article. Good show! :)

[owlafaye]

This is the "Onion"...right?

[Kalyan]

Wow how many people think this is real!

[DoctorDoctor]

please, god, let this be a joke.

[lisangela]

Yes, it is a joke. Not all that funny, but a joke nonetheless. This is the comedy channel.

[DoctorDoctor]

have you noticed a pattern here?

health care press conference --- pres obama's leaving the podium after a 45 minute speech/open question session on topic. as he's leaving the podium, a quick question he decides to answer --- off topic. that's all we hear about the next day --- or the next week. and then congress goes on vacation and the gloves come off.

address to joint session of congress. brilliant. never heard better. one insane representative, lost in his racist past shouts "liar" and guess what? that's all we hear about the next day/week. no discussion of the address in the media. just "the shout".

now, addressing the ceo's and other officers of the major financial interests in this country, found lagging the rest of the world in its recovery, president obama has the (fookin) microphone grabbed by a rapper with attitude, a recent history of weird interference with an ongoing production and an obviously planned demonstration ready to go.

i, for one, am sick and tired of having weirdness replace the reporting of important national addresses by our chief executive. no wonder we're all confused. can anyone tell me why they're allowed to interfere? can you IMAGINE what would have happened had someone tried that with bush? yikes.

[lisangela]

Do you really not know when you're in the comedy section of this website? IT'S A SATIRE, PEOPLE!

Even if you don't know simply by reading...look up...yes up on the navigation bar...see which tab is lighter? Yes...that would be Comedy. That's where you are now.

[deusXmchna]

For people clicking in from Google News or perhaps an RSS reader, it's just a headline- no contextual info.
That being said- it should be obvious that this is satire..
If it wasn't flagged by peoples brains as satire, the logical fact that the secret service didn't whomp someone who stole the Prez's mic, should have been a dead giveaway that this was fiction, at the very least.

Contextually, I think it might have been funnier at Onion or Sandbox. For some reason it just didn't make me giggle here.

[CalSailor]

"For anyone to interrupt the President while he is speaking is an outrage," Mr. Steele said, "and shows great disrespect for the office of the Presidency. We as a nation should not tolerate this kind of behavior."

Now, what did Mr Steele tell Rep Joe Wilson? I'll bet he did not say the same thing. Rep Joe Wilson is just as disrespectful. And he gets a pass?

Mr Steele, your hypocracy is breathtaking!

Pr Chris

[lisangela]

psst...it's a satire...Steele never said this.

[wwoody]

Congressman Joe Wilson and Kanye West, father and son act.

[Hipppo]

Not only these 2 are rude and roudy, I think they got hired by the confederates to disrespect and discourage the President. Neocons conspiracy! Where were Obama guards?
It is really scary, NO tolerance for such uncivilized act!

[brettrobbins]

Excellent piece. Almost as entertaining as watching the Gen Yers taking it seriously.

[lisangela]

If only it was just the Gen Yers. If ignorance is bliss, there's a lot of seriously happy people posting on this site.

[Shayrae]

Great satire. Gave me a much needed laugh in these crazy times. Thanks.

[mikeburtner]

The plausibility of the alleged joke here is that Kanye West might have unfettered access to the President's stage and microphone. And it's not improbable, considering that Google News clocked in a good 3,500+ articles today regarding Barry's diss of Kanye. So it's funny because they're, like, tight, yeah?

Nope, no cult of personality around here. I wonder what MC Prez thinks about Beyonce's video?

[Thomas Murphy]

And this is the level of "media heroes" we got for teens and twenty-somethings to look up to? Pathetic.

[mcmingus]

He had the perfect set up for a punchline about the Wilson outburst.

Then again, maybe his Michael Steele quotes, are intended as the punchline.

It would be just like Steele...

[jdlund]

Hold on a sec. Other posters are aware that this is a joke right? I am seeing some posts that sound like people actually think this happened. This article is playing on what Kanye did at the VMAs, it's mocking Kayne and it's pretty funny.

Seriously, people should realize that this is impossible. If you approached the President while he was speaking, well it may be the last thing you'd ever do. If you got your hands near him, you'd at the very least have a nice long stay in a hospital followed by a stay in a cell. Also one poster wondered why it wasn't covered by other news networks. . .well that should clue you in to this being a joke.

It's too obvious as a joke that I'm not sure how anyone missed it. That actually makes this even funnier.

[MJinCanada]

I can hardly hear myself think for all the WHOOSH noises as this satire goes over so many heads.

[danolee]

West is not capable of such articulate speech.

[joceeco]

I thought the same thing as I read this piece!

[classicalgregg]

There was once a time when such nonsense would have been abruptly halted by the Secret Service taking a person down to floor with their arm twisted around their back. I say we go back to that. Hello Secret Service! Some of these "celebs" are whacka doodles and you shouldn't let them near the President!