Wednesday, September 16, 2009

That Damn Amber Rose!

Happy WTF Wednesday!

Okay, my rant today has to do with a question asked on the radio this morning. The question was, "Do you think Amber Rose is bringing Kanye down?"

huh?

Okay, now...I'm not saying she's the classiest lady on the planet.














The morning personalities suggested that if she were a "good woman," she wouldn't have let Kanye show his ass on the red carpet by taking Henny to the head.



Okay, so maybe she shouldn't have encouraged it...because after all - showing up to an awards show drunk is never a good look. She was sippin' on the sizzurp her damn self.

But, to say that she may be "bringing him down" or that it's somehow her fault that he's such an ass is ridiculous. Kanye was a jerk before he met her, and most likely will remain one until he decides to change...if he feels he needs to.

I wasn't surprised by Kanye's actions at the VMA's. It's what he does. Quite frankly, I'm surprised it's gotten this much attention. There wasn't this much outcry over Rep. Joe Wilson calling Barack Obama a liar during a live, televised speech - and he's the freakin' President!

As far as his disrupting Taylor Swift's speech, that'll be forgotten. He apologized. Kanye will continue to sell millions of records. We should all be getting over it.

But noooo....now we have to add something else to the mix by saying "it's that DAMN AMBER ROSE bringing the man down."

Gimme a freakin' break.

Kanye West is no role model. If we hold him to a certain level of esteem, it should be for his music, and nothing else. Just like children all around the world wanted to be like Mike - both Jackson AND Jordan - it should be for their musical and athletic prowess respectively only - not what they do in the privacy of their own homes or behind closed doors. Sure, if they do good deeds around the world, that should be commended. And I'm not saying that "celebrities" shouldn't be held accountable when they do something wrong or break the law. But we have to realize that our "heroes" are human. They make mistakes. And they make them alone.

I've heard men and women say that that "sinister white woman" brought Michael Jordan down by outing him as a womanizer and an adulterer. I've heard men and women say that that "bitch" brought down Clarence Thomas. I've heard men and women say that R. Kelly isn't at fault for having sex with a 14 year old girl because "her fast ass shouldn't have been up in the club and she LOOKS 17." I've heard men and women say that that woman seduced Jesse Jackson and made him have a child out of wedlock. I've heard men and women say, "RiRi must have done something to make Chris Brown mad and she's trying to destroy his image." And now some are wondering if that bitch Amber Rose with the bangin' ass body is nothing but a "groupie with benefits" out to bring Kanye down.

Part of the problem is that we ask these candidates for Role Model to be all things to all people, and when we find that they cannot do the impossible, we simply ignore or excuse their human flaws and misdeeds. I mean, isn't it enough that Michael Jordan was an astonishing basketball player? No, it's not. And if he falters, it must be "that woman's" fault. Not his...of course not.

Isn't it our own desire to idealize famous Black men that accounts for our continued denial in the face of evidence that Jordan is an adulterer? He's not the only one in the world, but he's STILL the best basketball player in the history of the game. And his mistakes are his alone.

Reverend Jackson fathered a child out of wedlock, and R. Kelly is allegedly a pedophile. Why do we insist that success in one area of endeavor indicates equal accomplishment in others - and requires that we elevate our "idols" to heroic, superhuman status? Inevitably, we are disappointed and outraged when our hero topples from the pedestal, and we look around for someone else - usually a woman - to blame for his sins.

So in Jordan's case, it's the trashy, gold-digging White woman. It was the scheming, opportunist sister who brought down Jesse Jackson. And it was a 14-year-old she-devil who made R. Kelly do it. Even after the fall, we still refuse to require that these former role models take responsibility for their actions - as if being talented, influential, and wealthy Black men absolves them from being adults.

The truth is, too many of us are afraid to hold men accountable for their actions. Instead, we make excuses or blame the evil "woman" - Black or White - for "bringing down our men." Well, that's fuckery to me. Sure, a great partnership of like-minded people who are committed to encouraging and uplifting each other can make for a dynamic duo (think Barack and Michelle) but ultimately, a man isn't brought down by anyone but himself.

-b

27 comments:

momo925 said...

FIRST BITCHES!!

annamaria said...

Momo taser coming out!!!
Kanye's an ass regardless of who he is with! And how much do I love the fact that Barack called him a jackass!!!

momo925 said...

MUHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHA MUHAHAHAHAHAHAH !!!

LOL! Ok I totally agree Brooke. Preach! Kanye is giant A$$HOLE all on his own. There is no one else to blame for his rediculous antics.

If the president called him a Jacka$$ you know you done f'd up. But lets talk about how that little tidbit of information was supposed to be off the record but reporters couldn't wait to blast it out all over twitter! No matter how hard they try... they won't succeed in bringing him down! Obama is the man! lol

Brooke said...

Yeah, when I read that he called him a jackass, I was like "ouch!" But guess what, we all can make a jackass out of ourselves at some point...and the responsibility lies on us. Why are we always looking for someone else to blame when one of our's does something crazy? He owned it, so why bring Amber Rose into this? He said he was sorry, just let it go!

Anonymous said...

i agree 100%. this is one of your best blogs!!!!

Rameer said...

I HATE when people try to say it was someone else's fault. I had a friend go on about how Bobby Brown ruined Whitney Houston. I had to correctly point out that WHITNEY HERSELF admits to doing drugs BEFORE she got with Bobby. And she was always ghetto...it's called public image.

But it makes people who idolize these people feel better to blame others than accept that they have faults. Sad.

I never heard the "sinister white woman" thing, Brooke-Ra. When did THAT start?? Jordan has had so many different women, how can anyone blame it on ONE?? And, the true story about him and Juanita (oh, if you knew the crap she pulled, you'd think this was an episode of "Cheaters") is so f'd up I don't even wanna touch on it too much.

The problem in this country - with a great deal of things - is no one wants to accept personal accountability. We ALL have free will. Amber Rose is supposed to control Kanye West?? His MOTHER wasn't able to do that!

Silliness. Stop blaming other people and see things as they are. If I spazz out and do some foolishness, no one's calling up my boys and saying "why you ain't stop him from doing that??"

In rare cases, we all have people who can intervene and stop something. But for the most part, you do it - YOU own it.

'Sides...it was a great stunt. MTV's ratings were up 27% across the board. And I agree - people are more upset about this entertainment crap than about Healthcare and other substantive issues.

NightFall914 said...

DOn't know about others but last time I screwed up it was my fault and mine alone. That's one of the things I try to stay away from with "celebs" because we really can't speak on what is or isn't going on because we don't really know what happens in their private time.

Kanye's grown and so is Amber.Living lives where over the top antics are encouraged. But when you really over do it, man and take the heat.Don't hide behind your female as a crutch.

Rameer said...

@ Nightfall - I don't think Kanye's using Amber as a crutch. Brooke-Ra brought the topic up as something that other people were saying...

NightFall914 said...

@Rameer

I know.I was listening to the Hot 97 this morning as well when they brought this topic up. It was more like they were painting Amber as a cause or at least an enabler of the problems.

Anonymous said...

Kanye is a damn fool, but he should keep making music. MTV and the world should not have expected anything different when they saw him strolling in on the red carpet taking a bottle of Henney to the head. As far as his chick #1 she is wack but everyone should have someone behind them to stop them from doing buffoonery. Right Annie Mae? She should have been a strong black woman and not let him walk around a nationally televised even posing with a bottle of Henney. I know a guy who once had a bottle of beer in all of the pics at this baby shower. Not cool.
As for the Prez, watch what you say son, they are gunning for you. Today is Kanye, tomorrow will be about someone else or somehting else to ruin your career. Watch out now!!!!!
And last but not least, I love you Serena and want to see you act out your threat on the line judge.

Ms. Patra-son said...

Kanye is just a spoil, big ass little kid... scaring the poor lil white girl like that.

And don't try to blame it on the alcohol or your mom passing, your mom passed like how ever long ago.

Kanye need to leave that ish (jumping on stage) to lil mama who doesn't know better LOL!

Poor lil mama - hahaha

Rameer said...

1. Y'all might *want* to get dealt with talking about Lil' Mama. That's the most gangsterest dude out there...the boy don't PLAY!!!

2. (Sigh) I wish people would get over the seriousness of the Kanye episode and wake up to realize it was A STUNT that MTV was happy to have occur - as they do at all their award shows...

3. "Anonymous" fits into exactly what Brooke-Ra was talking against..."she should have been a strong Black woman"? HA!

My own mother told me and my siblings "y'all are adults...I can't stop y'all from doing what you want. But don't expect me to jump in or support anything you do that's just plain old STUPID."

I wish people would call a spade a spade. Kanye did what he did...Amber had nothing to do with it. What's she supposed to do - jump on-stage during the on-going spectacle and say "no, Kanye! Stop it!"

Moment still would've been interrupted...only now SHE would've looked like a fool as well. Get real.

iriegal said...

They belong together..(who is that momo who thinks your sight it mediatakeout.com)..lol

Kanye Mama is gonna come back, haunt him and WHIP HIS ASS!

The Cable Guy said...

I heard that on Hot97 this morning too and thought it was a dumb ass question. They act like this is the first time Kanye did some ill shit...

He wasn't with Amber Rose when he said George Bush doesn't like Black people and he wasn't with her when he ran on stage talking about I should'a won. Aint nobody gonna stop Kanye from doing Kanye. Like Rameer said, Kanye's mother was ALIVE when he did all that other crazy ish, so if he didn't care what SHE thought, why the hell would he give a damn what stripper ass Amber Rose has to say?

She knows her role and she's trying to just get in where she fits in. She has no influence over him...she's the trick of the week. If she was such a strong black woman as anonymous thinks she "should have been" then she wouldn't even BE with a clown like Kanye.

The Cable Guy said...

oh, and you think Taylor Swift is crying a river? Yeah, he messed up her moment, but her name has been in everyone's mouth since this whole thing happened and she sold more albums because of it...so if you ask me, he did her a favor! Cuz nobody who doesn't listen to country music even had her on the radar before Kanye's stunt...so she SHOULD be grateful!

DMoe said...

All,

If you will, allow me to play a bit of "Momo's advocate" here (or 'devil' whichever you prefer)

First of all, kudos to Brookey for putting a spin on this thing that gets us all riled up. However, while Kanye "can do bad/be a Jackass all by himself", I must ask each of you to consider the part where rollin' with a chick that has no sense won't be helpful at certain points.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying she's to blame for the "hookboogie foolishness" he pulled (copyright DMoe, inc.), but I am saying if she had a greater amount of sense, she COULD have been the voice of reason to say, "umm...We drinkin' Hen straight out the bottle in public bruh..." She might have said "Kanye, I understand how you feel, but let's figure out a better way to handle this..."

Case in point: Adam "Pacman" Jones has proven above and beyond all else, that he's exactly the kind of dude who does NOT need to "enforce precipitation" (make it rain, et al) in strip clubs.

While he was "wildin out," a drug dealer friend of his in the crew had to pull him aside a couple of years ago to say "Bruh, you are an NFL superstar...You got way more to lose fightin' up in this club than I do, you gotta chill this out..."

Since when does the DRUG DEALER become the voice of reason in the crew? Well, obviously the dude had enough sense to (A) not be incarcerated as a result of his illicit activity (yet) and (B) tell PacMan to sit the f**k down.

And that's my point: YOu hang with 5 broke clowns, you gonna be the 6th. Obviously Amber Rose is as sharp as a bowling ball, and her and Kanye both being "dumb together".

My girl Whitney Houston is no exception, and yes, Bobby Brown didn't bring her down per se. However, had she married Randall Cunningham, she might not have delivered the "crack is wack" speech. And again, B-Brown has NO sense. If Whitney gotta do all the thinking and successful career earning, we can clearly see how THAT turned out. Is he to blame? No. She's a fool for hangin' with a fool, and so is Kanye.

Michael Vick's another example of rollin with a "senseless" crew of folks. Nobody had the good sense to tell the "fool" at the head of the table to chill out before he/she does something stupid with the dog ring? Nobody? Bueller? Bueller?

Amber Rose is not exempt from that, and in my opinion, thats where the finger pointing with her resides.

When we were kids, I got in trouble a few times for ALLOWING my little cousin to do something dumb while I was standing there. There's a lesson in that, and clearly, the "couple" that's takin' the Hen straight on the red carpet and during TV breaks doesn't have enough sense to transfer some back and forth when applicable.

DMoe aka 40th Street Black
(google it)

Rameer said...

***wipes a tear of joy at Cable Guy's post***

You get it...you really *get* it...

I feel so proud in this moment...after hearing people cry about the little white girl for days without getting some perspective on it...thanks for reaffirming my faith in people ( at least the ones NOT working in TV, film, radio or media)...

Brooke said...

D, I get what you're saying. My mother would yell at me if my sister did something wrong and I was there. But I got in trouble because, knowing her child, she knew I KNEW better.

I think we're giving Amber Rose too much credit. Yes, maybe if Kanye walked the red carpet with his mother, he wouldn't have been taking Henny to the head. We can almost say that with certainty he wouldn't. But to someone who may not know any better, then the responsibility can't rest with her. If you know better, and you're with someone who doesn't, we can't hold THAT person accountable for what WE did.

And who knows, maybe she did say, "babe...uh, maybe we should leave the Henny in the car." But Kanye might have said, "bitch please, fall back...who the hell are you to tell ME what to do?" And she may have been powerless or had no influence over him.

No matter the voice of reason, if we don't respect that person enough to heed their good sense, it doesn't matter what they say - and it stilld doesn't absolve you of taking responsibility with the good sense God gave you.

DMoe said...

Duly noted. However, I must reiterate - If you hang with 5 fools, you are (inevitably) going to be the 6th.

That exactly speaks to the "credit" to Amber Rose. You can smell in the air that I don't think too highly of the chick that does the Henny shots WITH my dumb ass at the awards show.

Its easy to act a fool with a fool...If you rollin' with a chick that has sense, it can be an uncomfortable situation that maybe your azz needs for you not to do no clowning. The responsibility inherently is still his. I just believe in the company making the difference in many cases.

Tina left Ike and her career went through the roof. LOL. A lil different, but kinda the same. LOL.

DMoe

Brooke said...

Well then that is a different kind of responsibility, cuz now the responsibility is ALSO on Kanye to choose his circle more wisely.

He chose to bring her in his circle - to make her his "woman." That's not HER problem, that's HIS. It's not her fault for being a fool, and she didn't make HIM one. He did. Either way, it's all on him...for being a FOOL and allowing ANOTHER fool to get close to him.

The Cable Guy said...

I can't take credit for all of it Rameer, Brooke-ra (as you call her) and I were IMing about it and those were her words...and I agreed with her...I just posted it :) She works in media and gets it too just like you do. All I did was tell her that I had never even heard of Taylor Swift before all of this happened.

DMoe, I get what you're saying, but still, he ain't listening to no Amber Rose. Kanye isn't ready to take on the responsibility of being with a good woman. He knows Amber Rose will co-sign all his foolishness and that a real woman wouldn't go for that BS, so he's keeping her around til he's ready to step it up. If you want to be successful, hang around successful people. If you wanna be a clown, hang around clowns. Either way, you're responsible for your own success or your own buffoonery. They may influence you, but no one else can be to blame for your sucessess or failures.

Brooke said...

I love that some of you say "buffoonery" and "fucker" now :) LOL!

Cable Guy, you could have taken all the credit for comment, no need to share :)

Rameer said...

I want to just say this...

While no one can defend what Kanye did (actually, if I was feeling feisty, I COULD just to do it - convincingly, too) - I disagree with him being a "fool". Kanye has consistently keep media attention on himself throughout his entire career as a solo artist. This benefits him the same way it benefits Spencer & Heidi, Tom Cruise, Britney, 50 Cent, and the original stunt-puller, Madonna.

As long as you are talking about said person, said person will be in-demand for magazines, interviews, talk shows and the like. This in turn builds demand to see if their product will be as much a mess as the subject. Since the product is almost ALWAYS good, people purchase the product, but still love to hate the person.

These people, while spontaneous at times and unable to figure out, are *actually* VERY smart. Their aim is attention - knowing that the attention translates into dollars.

Kanye may have been drunk and spazzed out...but the guy is VERY smart. He probably knew from the jump he was going to do SOMETHING...and just waited for the opp. You KNOW MTV knew he was going to do something - he's NEVER failed them.

Amber is just along for the ride. She's gotten more attention and fame riding on his arm they she would've ever gotten on her own. Kind of like Kimora Lee riding on the arm of Russell Simmons...or Tom Arnold marrying Roseanne Barr. They formed careers off the association. Kanye gets to have a piece of arm candy and willing a$$, and she gets herself out there, which leads to more gigs and exposure...and more MONEY.

I KNOW Brooke-Ra gets this...and so do a few others on the blog. I've said over the past few days - you want to know how entertainment really works?

Watch "WWE Raw" one Monday night, beginning to end. The same storylines are what most of the public falls for daily. Just interchange out the wrestlers with whatever celebs...95% of what you see is fake.

Jay-Z TRIED to tell y'all:

"They're all actors
Looking at themselves in the mirror backwards
Can't even face themselves, don't fear no rappers
They're all weirdos, DeNiro's in Practice
So don't believe everything your earlobe captures
Its mostly backwards
Unless it happens to be as accurate as me
And everything said in song you happen to see
Then actually, believe half of what you see
None of what you hear even if its spat by me
And with that said, I will kill (Negroes) dead..."


Apply that to ALL entertainment.

Brooke said...

I also think Kanye is smart enough to know what he's doing. Kanye was just waiting to do SOMETHING. Sure, we can say he was drunk - but he's pulled similar stunts SOBER. Which is why we can't chalk it up to Amber Rose letting him drink on the red carpet. He would have probably done that mess while sober...and it still would have been all on him.

Kanye is a media whore. Amber Rose is there with him for whatever reason. We don't know if she really has his best interest at heart, what their feelings are towards each other, if she knew he was going to do something or not, or even if she had/has enough influence to stop him. For all we know, she could have been calling him all kinds of assholes too after he did what he did. We don't know that. All we know is the only person on that stage was Kanye... and he probably would have been up there drunk or sober, with or without a date.

Rameer said...

EXACTLY, Brooke-Ra.

Extremely well put. You been reading my Facebook page or somethin'?? Lolz...kidding.

Annamaria said...

I agree with Cable guy...Taylor Swift int crying.... half of us didn't know who she was before Sunday and after that stunt I find myself knowing the lyrics to her songs and singing along...damn shame...and let's be clear Amber is nooo Kimora...lol

Brooke said...

I know, right Annamaria!?

I was at work yesterday talking about "you belong to MEEEEE...!!!"

And I don't listen to country music - but damn if I wasn't humming that song all day.

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