Celebrity Mound

Kanye West was never more polite and gracious than when he turned up at Vanity Fair’s Tribeca Film Festival kickoff dinner.

Perhaps “South Park” should get some of the credit. The cartoon skewered West for his inflated ego less than two weeks ago. But for whatever reason, the mega-rapper checked his self-importance at the door for the VF bash.

Arriving solo, West hung out with Spike Lee on the veranda at state Supreme Court downtown, noshing on salmon fish cakes. (See, “South Park”? He can take a joke!)

Soon he was even chatting animatedly with fans, telling one: “I don’t want to be an actor. I’m more into working on my fashion lines and focusing on music.”

(source)

Hit the red carpet with GLC & Kanye West in new video for “The Big Screen”. What more can you ask for besides trendy smoked-filled music lounges, beautiful women, and Kanye’s mullet?

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This may be one rap he can’t beat.

Kanye West has been formally charged with three misdemeanors stemming from a scuffle with paparazzi at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 11.

West, 31, was charged with misdemeanor vandalism, battery and grand theft, the L.A. City Attorney’s office announced in a statement Wednesday. West’s road manager, Don Crawley, 33, has been charged with the same counts, but two of each.

If convicted of all charges, West could face up to two years and six months in jail and Crawley could face up to five years in jail, according to the statement.

Six months ago, the pair was arrested at the airport while attempting to catch a flight to Honolulu. Video of the incident showed both men wresting a camera away from a photographer, and both smashing parts of it into the ground. Crawley also allegedly smashed a second photographer’s camera. The incident resulted in minor injuries to one of the photographers, prosecutors say.

“I’m cool with the paparazzi,” the rapper wrote on his blog the following day. “This guy wasn’t cool. I gotta work now … I’ll rant later!”

On Nov. 14, West was arrested in Newcastle, England, after another run-in with a photographer, but West was released without charge.

West’s lawyer, Blair Berk, wasn’t immediately available for comment. A rep for Kanye West could not be reached. An arraignment is set for April 14.

(source)

Since word broke a few months ago about a sneaker project done by Kanye West and Louis Vuitton info was scarce and kept under wraps. Photos finally surfaced of (most) of the lineup recently, but pricing has still been a bit of a mystery and a guessing game – until now.

Late last night, a Nice Kicks reader sent us information about the upcoming Kanye West x Louis Vuitton shoes including the prices and the names of each model. The men’s collection consists of three models, the Louis Vuitton Don’s (most likely named after Ye, but also could be a shout to Don C, his manager), Jasper’s (named after Kanye’s barber), and the Mr. Hudson’s (named after the GOOD Music artist and 808 collaborator of the same name).

Click here to see how much the Kanye West for Louis Vuitton collection will set you back when they release in June.

Kanye West’s controversial comments during a Feb. 13 taping of VH1′s Storytellers will be cut before the show airs this Sunday, Reuters reports.

The rapper defended Chris Brown, downplayed Michael Phelps’ controversial pot pics and slammed Radiohead during the show’s three-hour taping on Feb. 13 in L.A.

In the style of Storytellers episodes, VH1 filmed West — known for his outspoken personality — as he played his songs in an intimate setting and shared tidbits with the audience about how they were written. His controversial comments ended up on the cutting room floor, but not for political reasons, executive producer Bill Flanagan told Reuters.

“Can’t we give Chris a break?” West said to the crowd regarding Brown’s arrest for allegedly beating his girlfriend, Rihanna “I know I make mistakes in life.”

On a similar note, he earned applause for his support of other stars who have seen their share of scandal.

“Michael Jackson, amazing,” the hip-hop star said. “Michael Phelps, amazing. He’s a real f—in’ person. He makes mistakes.”

VH1 cleaned up those comments, which included his less-popular follow-up observation: “OJ Simpson, amazing. Is he not? What
he did, when he did, what he did. Was he not amazing, though?”

Flanagan defended West’s openness, as VH1 encourages the artist “to just keep talking,” and producers will then “eliminate any ‘gotcha’ moments” that don’t work.

Another conversation piece they will eliminate is West’s remarks about Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, who apparently snubbed him backstage at the Grammys five days earlier. That hurt, West told the audience, because he idolizes the British band and considers it one of his few creative rivals.

“So when he performed at the Grammys, I sat the f— down,” West said.

Overall, Flanagan said he was “pretty delighted” with the way West — who performed 14 songs during the taping — opened up to the crowd and took the whole project seriously.

“A lot of the stories that Kanye told went long,” Flanagan said on Thursday. “I tried to get to the essence of his comments.”

(source)