US president's off-the-record remark about rapper's outburst at awards show was Tweeted to the world before being deleted
US president's off-the-record remark about rapper's outburst at awards show was Tweeted to the world before being deletedBarack Obama has described Kanye West as a "jackass" after the rapper's outburst at the MTV Video Music Awards.
The US president made the uncharacteristically blunt remark during an interview with a US business news network, on Monday.
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Rapper Rapped: Barack Obama made the blunt remark during an interview with a business network |
Although Obama delivered the aside during an off-the-record segment of the pre-recorded interview, it was picked up and tweeted by a journalist from a rival network.
Terry Moran, who co-hosts the Nightline programme on NBC, posted this update on the micro-blogging website last night: "President Obama just called Kanye West a 'jackass' for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT'S presidential."
The message has since been deleted, but not before it was re-tweeted by many of Moran's more than one million followers, ensuring that it was read across the web.
ABC has since issued an apology to the White House for quoting words that were never intended to be made public.
"In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion," a spokesman said.
Rapper's Rant at VMA
The rapper has been widely condemned for interrupting 19-year-old country singer Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at the award ceremony on Sunday.
He stormed onstage as Swift accepted her Best Female Video award.
West took the mic from 19-year-old Swift, shouting, "Yo Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'll let you finish, but Beyonce has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!"
He then shrugged and walked offstage, leaving a stunned Beyonce, a booing audience and a speechless and visibly emotional Swift on stage.
Watch the video on Youtube.com
