He famously wore a look of utter shock at the time.
But
Mike Myers has said Kanye West 'spoke the truth' during an infamous
Hurricane Katrina rant during which the hip hop star claimed 'George
Bush doesn't care about black people.'
In
fact the Austin Powers favourite said he is 'proud' to have been
standing next to he furious rapper when he delivered his emotional
outburst during their appearance on a national 2005 telethon to aid
victims of the disaster
Backed: Mike Myers has said he supported Kanye
West's infamous 2005 Hurricane Katrina telethon rant despite appearing
shocked at the time
The Canadian star told GQ:
'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'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.'
The
50-year-old, who has taken out US citizenship, also said he was deeply
moved at seeing the plight his adopted countrymen were suffering.
He
said: '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.
Gobsmacked: However the Wayne's World star seemed stunned at the time
'And these are my fellow citizens, who just happen to be people of color, sitting on roofs for multiple days.'
He also tried to play down the amount of publicity his reaction attracted, saying it was very much a side issue.
The
Wayne's World star said: 'To me that's really the point -- the look on
my face is, to me, almost insulting to the true essence of what went
down in New Orleans.
'To
have the emphasis on the look on my face versus the fact that somebody
spoke truth to power at a time when somebody needed to speak? I'm very
proud to have been next to him.'
Ironically,
he should not even have been sharing the stage with the Golddigger
favourite, but a last minute change of plan was foisted on him by the
producers of NBC's A Concert for Hurricane Relief.
Last minute double act: Mike was initially going to do a solo spot before producers teamed him with Kanye
He
said: 'I went there specifically because I wanted to help the Red
Cross. I was supposed to be by myself, and I was like "fine," then they
said "Do you mind doing it with somebody else?"
'And
I always remembered that Live Aid thing of "leave your egos at the
door," so I said, "Sure, of course." And they said, "Would you do it
with Kanye West?" and I said, "Uh sure."'
'I
actually wasn't familiar with his work. And then he said he was going
to take some liberties with the thing … But I didn't know that the
liberty would be calling out the president.'
While Mike has backed the rapper over the incident, Kanye has long since apologised for his conduct.
In 2010 he admitted: 'I would say of George Bush, in my moment of frustration, I didn’t have the grounds to call him a racist.
Too little too late: President Bush, seen here
visiting a food bank during the disaster, was criticised for the slow
federal response to Hurricane Katrina
'But I believe that in a situation of high emotion like that, we as human beings don’t always choose the right words.'
The President also gave his thoughts on the incident in his memoirs Decision Points.
He
said: 'I faced a lot of criticism as president. I didn’t like hearing
people claim that I lied about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction or cut
taxes to benefit the rich.
'But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all-time low.'
At least 1,833 people died in the cyclone and subsequent floods, and it was the deadliest US hurricane since 1928.
The
Federal Emergency Management Agency took days to establish operations
in New Orleans, and seemed to lack a plan of action, and officials,
including President Bush, seemed unaware of just how bad things were in
New Orleans and elsewhere.
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