In the August 2014 issue of GQ magazine, Kanye West gives a few head-scratching quotes. One of the most perplexing was his comparison of celebrities to African-Americans in the '60s: "I talked about the idea of celebrity, and celebrities being treated like blacks were in the '60s, having no rights, and the fact that people can slander your name," he recalled of his wedding toast. "And I had to say this in a position where I, from the art world, am marrying Kim. And how we're going to fight to raise the respect level for celebrities so that my daughter can live a more normal life." Of course, this isn't the first time a celebrity -- including West -- has said something provocative:
Jason Biggs came under fire after making what some found to be an insensitive joke after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, July 17. "Anyone wanna buy my Malaysian Airlines frequent flier miles?" he tweeted. When the Twitter backlash followed, Biggs didn't back down. "Hey all you 'too soon' a--holes-," he wrote, "it's a f--king joke. You don't have to think it's funny, or even be on my twitter page at all."
Kim Kardashian was criticized heavily when she was expecting her first child, North, in 2013, and perhaps a part of her wishes she could've just stayed home. When asked to give style advice to pregnant women, Kardashian told Elle magazine that expectant moms should be "hiding for a good year and having no pregnancy style. That's what I recommend. If you can do it, hide. Never leave the house." Kardashian caught so much blowback from that quote that she later had to tweet that she was joking, and that she's learned a new lesson: "I guess you can't be sarcastic when doing interviews!"
Joan Rivers' sense of humor likely doesn't go over well at the White House. The comedian and TV personality joked in July that America has its first gay POTUS in President Barack Obama, and went on to say that the first lady, Michelle Obama, is transgender. When reached for comment on her words, Rivers said, "I think it's a compliment."
"Opie and Anthony" radio host Anthony Cumia found himself fired by his program's carrier, SiriusXM, because of a series of inflammatory tweets he posted in early July. Cumia says that his profane and racially insensitive Twitter rant was caused by an attack on him by an African-American woman, who, according to Cumia, was upset because he was taking photos of her. After the alleged assault, Cumia turned to Twitter to air his grievances, calling her a "lucky savage" and a "lying c***," among other defamatory phrases.
Tom Cruise -- aka the man still trying to live down the infamy of calling Matt Lauer "glib" during a tense 2005 interview -- has claimed that he invented the global movie press tour. On Jimmy Kimmel's talk show, Cruise said that around the time of 1986's "Top Gun," "I came up with the idea of, let's have premieres in different countries and do it that way." When Kimmel responded with a surprised, "You started that?" Cruise affirmed, "Yeah, I came up with that. It took me a few years to get it going."
Gwyneth Paltrow is known for having alternative views, but her latest observation has raised more eyebrows than usual. In a post on her website GOOP, Paltrow said she's "fascinated" by a study on how "negativity changes the structure of water, and how the molecules behave differently depending on the words or music being expressed around it." So does that mean Paltrow believes water has feelings? Some think so.
Justin Bieber, now 20, is taking responsibility for using racial slurs as a teen. In two videos that surfaced in June, a younger Bieber can be seen using the "N" word on two separate occasions -- instances that he says were the result of his own ignorance. "As a young man, I didn't understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt. I thought it was OK to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn't realize at the time that it wasn't funny," the star said in a statement.
Jonah Hill has also owned up to yelling a homophobic slur at a paparazzo, which was seen on a video released by TMZ on Tuesday, June 3. The actor said to the photographer, "Suck my d***, you f*****." He later told radio host Howard Stern that he was frustrated by his own words: "From the day I was born and publicly I've been a gay rights activist. ... I played into exactly what (the paparazzo) wanted and lost my cool. And in that moment, I said a disgusting word that does not at all reflect how I feel about any group of people."
Actor James Franco criticized The New York Times' theater critic, Ben Brantley, over a lukewarm review of the Broadway revival "Of Mice and Men." "Brantley is such a little b****," the actor said in an April Instagram takedown that he later removed -- but not before it was screengrabbed for posterity.
Reese Witherspoon might seem prim on the red carpet, but the actress has been caught making more than one slip of the tongue. When the actress was arrested in April 2013 after having "one drink too many," she chastised the arresting officer for not recognizing he was arresting a celebrity. "Do you know my name?" she asked. When the officer replied that he didn't, Witherspoon shot back, "You're about to find out who I am."
And then there was the time Witherspoon was caught giving advice to Cara Delevingne, Kate Upton and Zooey Deschanel, reportedly after the 2014 Met Gala. The Southern actress was taped saying, "The most important thing in a name for a girl is that a man can whisper it in his pillow."
Charles Barkley, while covering a basketball game for TNT, got caught on a hot mic while saying that his Weight Watchers endorsement deal was a "scam." The company saw the humor in it and released a statement saying: "We love Charles for the same reason everyone loves Charles. He's unfiltered."
Adam Levine learned the hard way that you have to watch it before you speak. "The Voice" judge found himself facing some serious backlash in May 2013 after his disappointment over voting results led to him uttering, "I hate this country." He released a statement trying to clarify what he meant, saying that he was frustrated.
Madonna was on her best behavior at the "W.E." news conference, seen here during the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. But at the Venice Film Festival that same year, she was caught saying "I absolutely loathe hydrangeas" after a fan gave her the flowers.
Almost everything that Kanye West says can be met with a debate, and that includes his comment in November about his use of the Confederate flag on some of his new merchandise. The rapper told Los Angeles radio station 97.1 AMP that observers can "react how you want. Any energy is good energy. You know the Confederate flag represented slavery in a way -- that's my abstract take on what I know about it. So I made the song 'New Slaves.' So I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. It's my flag. Now what are you going to do?"
Like Kanye West, Alec Baldwin's commentary is a magnet for controversy. From once calling his daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig" to using anti-gay slurs, it's no wonder that the actor is trying to keep quiet these days. There are times when he can't help himself, though, and his May arrest for riding his bike the wrong way was one of them. "New York City is a mismanaged carnival of stupidity," Baldwin tweeted upon his release.
Politicians have to deal with this type of thing all of the time, and U.S. President Barack Obama is no exception. After Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV Awards in 2009, the commander-in-chief called the rapper a "jackass" while waiting for an interview to start. West was reportedly not amused.
In January 2013, director Quentin Tarantino was doing press for his film "Django Unchained" when Britain's Channel 4 reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked him whether he thinks movie violence can lead to actual violence. Tarantino shot back, saying: "You can't make me dance to your tune. I'm not a monkey," and "I'm shutting your butt down!"
When you're as famous as Britney Spears, it pays to first ask for someone to repeat the question. When she was asked for her thoughts on the passing of fellow former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello, the star accidentally responded, "I think that's great."
Mel Gibson's mouth has been a famous source of trouble for the movie star, and in 2010 it happened again. The actor was being interviewed about his film "Edge of Darkness" by WGN reporter Dean Richards when Gibson was asked about various scandals, including an anti-Semitic rant. "That's almost four years ago, dude," Gibson said. "I've moved on. I guess you haven't." The actor could be heard calling Richards an a**hole at the end.
Actor Samuel L. Jackson is not Laurence Fishburne, and he's been very clear about that. In February, Jackson scolded KTLA's Sam Rubin for misidentifying him. "You're as crazy as the people on Twitter," Jackson said during a live TV interview. "We may be all black and famous, but we all don't look alike. You're busted."
In March, late-night host Chelsea Handler challenged CNN's Piers Morgan, calling him unfocused. "You can't even pay attention for 60 seconds," she said. "You're a terrible interviewer."
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Kanye West gives a wide-ranging interview to GQ
He discusses his career goals, family and life as a celebrity
He feels like he's fighting for celebrity rights
He also says he's acquired "Kim K skills"
(CNN) -- It looks like Kanye West's new wife is rubbing off on him.
In the August issue of GQ magazine, the rapper talks about everything from his design ambitions -- he'd like to build amusement parks -- to his next album to his home life, including the relationship he's built with uber-celebrity Kim Kardashian.
According to West, his reality star bride, whom he married in May, has helped him acquire a unique set of skills: "Kim K skills," if you will.
"One of the reasons why I think that me and Kim are very powerful together isn't just the concept of celebrity or this mega rap star and this mega-beautiful pop star," West said. "What I had to learn from Kim is how to take more of her advice and less of other people's advice. There's a lot of Kim K skills that were added. In order to win at life, you need some Kim K skills, period."
And that's just one of things we now know about Yeezus. Here are eight more:
1. Kanye is a blowfish
"People have me pinned as a shark or a predator in some way, and in no way am I that. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone. I want to defend people. I want to help people. ... I'm not a shark, I'm a blowfish."
2. He gave a 45-minute toast at his own wedding
And he freely admits this.
"In the speech, I talked about the idea of collaboration and all the people involved working together and being able to change things. ... I said, "Wow, Carine (Roitfeld) is seven seats down from Kim (Kardashian). Farnaz (Farjam), the producer of the Kardashians and the producer of 'The Real World,' is four seats down from (director) Steve McQueen. And four seats, because in between them is Hosain (Rahman) from Jawbone. This is what I talked about. That was not a forty-five-minute speech to myself. Do you realize what that means for those people to be in that close of a proximity to each other?"
3.He doesn't care that Jay Z and Beyonce weren't there
It may have been Kim and Kanye's wedding, but all anyone wanted to know was whether Jay Z and Beyonce were going to be there. They ended up not attending -- although Beyonce gave her congratulations via Instagram -- and 'Ye seems fine with it.
"All that, I wouldn't even speak on. It doesn't even matter to me whatsoever, who would show up. Because the most important person to show up there, to me, was Kim."
4. He feels like he's constantly fighting
Even in the GQ interview. "I'm sitting right here, it's a fight. I'm fighting with the way I line my words up together and the way I place a sweater on top of a T-shirt. At this point, people know what's up. People know I'm smart. And people know that, whether it's SNL or Jimmy Kimmel, it's a trend to take the piss out of celebrity -- just as much of a trend as wearing a gray hoodie or driving a Prius."
5. Especially for celebrity rights
In his wedding toast, "I talked about the idea of celebrity, and celebrities being treated like blacks were in the '60s, having no rights, and the fact that people can slander your name. I said that in the toast. And I had to say this in a position where I, from the art world, am marrying Kim. And how we're going to fight to raise the respect level for celebrities so that my daughter can live a more normal life. She didn't choose to be a celebrity. But she is. So I'm going to fight to make sure she has a better life."
6. He also fought for Kim
"I had to fight for that for seven years."
7. He's actually not that sad
Despite what the #sadKanye meme would lead you to believe, he's feeling pretty good. "(W)e got the Vogue cover, Steve McQueen won the Oscar, we finally got married... You know? We have a child. We're a family now. I am an arbiter of taste, and people think that I have the ability to make things cool -- or if I'm doing it, it should be cool. And I feel that this stuff's starting to be cool. And that feels good to me. Because I don't like walking around with people thinking I'm doing uncool s**, because there's nothing I'm doing that's uncool. It's all innovative. You just might not understand it yet. But it's cool. Family is super cool. Going home to one girl every night is super cool. Just going home and getting on the floor and playing with your child is super cool. Not wearing a red leather jacket, and just looking like a dad and s**t, is like super cool.
8. He's also really happy about this
"Having someone that I can call Mom again. That s*** is super cool."
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