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Ask NBC to Honor Kanye West\'s First Amendment Rights

Ask NBC to Honor Kanye West\'s First Amendment Rights

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Started by Anonymous 20 years, 11 months ago
Mr. Wright, On Friday, September 2, 2005, recording artist Kanye West appeared on NBC with other celebrities to raise funds for Hurricane Katrina relief. While on air, Mr. West made several remarks regarding the relief effort. Unfortunately, his remarks were removed from the west coast feed of the telecast. During repeat airings over the weekend, Mr. West\'s remarks were still censured. In fact, his remarks were only aired on cable news outlets, where his opinions were debated by reporters and politicians. The irony, of course, is that his remarks were not available to viewers without access to (paid) cable television. While all broadcast networks are obligated to censure obscenity, nudity and violence, I was disturbed that your network chose to censure political speech. Mr. West had every right to express his political views. He did not use profanity, and (unlike the Reverend Pat Robertson), he did not advocate violence against anyone. Please show Mr. West\'s comments, in their entirety, in all future broadcasts of the telethon. Your network\'s explanation that the views expressed were those of Mr. West and not of the network was sufficient as a disclaimer. To remove his comments was a poor choice. It reflects badly on your network\'s commitment to freedom of speech. Like millions of other Americans, I believe that the First Amendment is worth protecting, and will NOT support a network that does not uphold it. Thank you, A Concerned Viewer

Updates

September 7, 2005

I have been reading through the comments you all left and the frustration about what happened on the west coast feed is clear. Seeing how many people value open dialogue over corporate editing gives me hope that we can hold these networks accountable for their decision to silence critical voices.

September 7, 2005

The momentum behind this is overwhelming because it shows so many people refuse to accept the silencing of political speech. Watching this grow reminds me that I am not alone in my frustration with how NBC handled that night.

Reached 100 supporters

September 7, 2005

6 Comments

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David Delgado
20 years ago Featured

Total joke that they think they can just edit out what people say. glad someone is calling them out on this.

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Jenny Thompson
20 years ago Featured

THEY ARE SO SCARED OF THE TRUTH. LET HIM SPEAK!!

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Tom Gibson
20 years ago Featured

its a free country right? leave his comments alone.

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Sarah Lund
20 years ago Featured

Censorship is getting out of hand. NBC should have just played it and let the viewers decide for themselves. Ridiculous.

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Mike Wilkinson
20 years ago Featured

it was just the truth. stop hiding things from people because you dont like what you hear

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Marcus Jensen
20 years ago Featured

Kanye was right. He said what everyone else was thinking but was scared to say on live tv. Release the footage.

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