Kanye West on Billboard Music Awards Performance: I Was 'Grossly Over-Censored'
Following his performance at Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards, Kanye West is speaking out about his closing set, calling it “grossly over-censored.”
Yeezus performed “All Day” and “Black Skinhead” with Allan Kingdom and Theophilus London, but much of the performance was bleeped out when it aired on ABC.
Kanye released a statement via his publicist addressing the censorship. “Kanye West was grossly over-censored at the Billboard Music Awards. Non-profane lyrics such as ‘with my leather black jeans on’ were muted for over 30 second intervals. As a result, his voice and performance were seriously misrepresented.”
“It is ridiculous that in 2015, unwarranted censorship is something that artists still have to fight against,” the statement continued.
He also apologized to viewers. “Although West was clearly set up to face elements beyond his control during the live broadcast, he would like to apologize to the television audience who were unable to enjoy the performance the way he envisioned.”
Billboard reached out to ABC and show producer Dick Clark Productions, but both had no comment.