Kanye apologizes–sort of–after Australian wheelchair incident

 

Kanye West has, through his representatives, offered a semi-apology for the Wheelchairgate scandal that has rocked his world and threatened to derail his tour.

As Starcasm (and pretty much every other media outlet) reported yesterday, Kanye has come under heavy fire for stopping a weekend concert in Sydney to call on every member of the audience to stand up.

That stoppage became somewhat extended and awkwardified when West waited…and waited…and waited on two fans who, it turned out, were handicapped, and could not stand.

Kanye, West’s people say, meant nothing malicious by his actions.

“There was no malicious intent to offend,” they said. “Anyone that has been to a Kanye concert knows that he asks for crowd participation.”

And, as People points out, West did have a more uplifting encounter with a handicapped fan at a show in Austin earlier this summer. When the fan had a hard time seeing the show, West had a security guard give him the performer’s microphone as a means of making it up to him.

 

 

That might not be enough for People With Disability Australia, who have some strong words for West.

Craig Wallace, spokesman for PWDA, had this to say about the incident:

 

To call out people for not standing up, when they are disabled and cannot stand up, in front of thousands of people, is humiliating….It’s arrogant to say every person in the audience needs to stand up just because you tell them to….Asking disabled people to show their handicap pass is patronising and inappropriate. He should apologize. Kanye West would also benefit from disability awareness training.

 

What do you think? Is Wallace right? Or is this whole thing being blown out of proportion?