Mike Myers says Kanye spoke 'truth' about George Bush during Katrina telethon

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email
• Copy Link

  Link Copied

In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, Mike Myers said he was “super proud to have been next” to Kanye West during a 2005 Hurricane Katrina telethon.

The telethon is best remembered for the moment when West called out President George W. Bush for the lack of response to people in need in New Orleans.

Myers said he wasn’t familiar with West’s work before the two were paired together for the telethon and that upon meeting West, “he said he was going to take some liberties with the thing.”

During the telethon, West took the liberties of calling out not only the media’s coverage of the storm but the president as well.

“I hate the way they portray us in the media,” West said. “If you see a black family it says they’re looting. If you see a white family it says they’re looking for food, and you know it’s been five days because most people are black.”

West also added, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” shortly before the telethon cut the pair off.

“I remember just being so upset and feeling, ironically, that if this was white people on roofs, the army would be there in five seconds,” Myers told GQ.

Reflecting on the telethon, Myers added:

For me it isn’t about the look of embarrassment on my face; it is truly about the injustice that was happening in New Orleans. I don’t mind answering the question but the emphasis of it being that I’m the guy next to the guy who spoke a truth. I assume that George Bush does care about black people—I mean I don’t know him, I’m going to make that assumption—but I can definitively say that it appeared to me watching television that had that been white people, the government would have been there faster.

You can read Myer’s full interview on GQ.com.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals.