Over the weekend, CNN aired several segments to promote a special celebrating Kanye West declaring that George W. Bush "doesn't care about black people" during a telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims in 2005.
CNN News Central
October 11, 2024
9:54 a.m. Eastern
JESSICA DEAN, FILL-IN HOST: How do you think, socially and culturally, this changed us after those moments? And, particularly, the moment where Kanye West went off script, everyone was like, "What just happened? Did he just say that?" Because people didn't talk about Presidents like that at all. They do now. But they didn't talk about Presidents like that.
RACHEL LINDSEY, HIGHER LEARNING PODCAST: We live in a different trend society now. Like at that moment, someone like Kanye West -- a rising star -- held the government's feet to the fire. He demanded accountability. He demanded respect. And it was very empowering and courageous to sit there and watch that moment, and it made all of us want to be that.
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CNN Newsroom
October 13, 2024
6:52 p.m. Eastern
LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: That moment was incredible because here's Kanye West standing with Mike Myers who of course is a comedic actor. So people, I think, expected it to be like a light, funny moment, but Kanye West went completely off script, and he says George Bush "does not care about black people." It was a shocking moment. I mean, I felt like America felt a lot like Mike Myers' face looked at that time. He just looked like, "Wow, that really just happened." And then, when they go to Chris Tucker who, you know, has to come out of it and just keep the whole telethon rolling along . Again, it was such a shocking moment, but it was an incredible moment and a very important moment for the conversation around Katrina. People had seen the horrendous footage like we're looking at right there of people just trying to survive. And so, by Kanye West saying what he said, I say in the episode, I felt like he said the quiet part out loud.
JESSICA DEAN, FILL-IN HOST: Mmm. And this whole series is about these moments in television that really have shaped our society, our lives. To that end, how did the events of that day hep lay the groundwork for the Black Lives Matter movement.
FRANCE; Yeah, because by taking on the President of the United States -- arguably, you know, an incredibly powerful person -- and by saying this and being critical of him, it laid the groundwork for people feeling more comfortable to speak out against the treatment of black and brown people in this country.
