The transcript has surfaced of hip-hop superstar Kanye West’s deposition in the case where he’s accused of beating a photographer and smashing his camera at LAX in 2013. TMZ published segments of the transcript, which reveals West to be combative in his back-and-forth with the photographer’s lawyer.
Under oath, West declares that he’s “the smartest celebrity you’ve ever f—ing dealt with. I’m not Britney Spears.” In the transcript, West slams the photographer’s attorney, Nate Goldberg.
“I’m in the business of trying to make dope s— for the world,” West says. “You’re in the business of representing scums and trying to make as much money as long as there’s this lapse in the law.”
Goldberg quoted West’s own lyrics from “Flashing Lights:” “Till I get flashed by the paparazzi, damn, these n—as got me.” West immediately expressed his disdain for the lawyer’s words.
“You have to ask for a hall pass. You can’t just say the ‘n’ word around me,” West interjected, before adding, “It offends me because you’re a white person saying ‘n—a.’ ”
West went on to compare the struggle for civil rights in the 1960s to celebrities fighting against invasion of privacy today. “I mean in the ’60s people used to hold up ‘Die N—-r’ signs when my parents were in the sit-ins also.”
In the transcript, Goldberg asks if West believes that the two set of circumstances are comparable and West responds, “Yes, 100 [percent]… I equate it to discrimination. I equate it to inequalities.”
“We, as a group of minorities here in L.A., as celebrities have to ban together to influence guys like this — guys trying to take the picture, guys trying to get the big win, guys trying to get the check.”
