Mike Myers said he was “super proud” to have been standing next to Kanye West when he famously said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
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In an interview with GQ where he discussed his directorial debut, “Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon“, Myers recalled the controversial moment in 2005 and empathized with the plight of the besieged New Orleans residents who were waiting to be rescued.
“I remember watching the television and seeing, because I’m a citizen now, my fellow citizens on the roofs of buildings dying,” Myers said. “And I turned into my father, where my dad would shout at the TV. My dad hated injustice. I’ve been called for many, many telethons, hither and yon, and I remember just being so upset and feeling, ironically, that if this was white people on roofs, the army would be there in five seconds.”
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“For me it isn’t about the look of embarrassment on my face, it is truly about the injustice that was happening in New Orleans,” he said. “I don’t mind answering the question but the emphasis of it being that I’m the guy next to the guy who spoke a truth. I assume that George Bush does care about black people — I mean I don’t know him, I’m going to make that assumption — but I can definitively say that it appeared to me watching television that had that been white people, the government would have been there faster.”
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“I’m, like, super proud to have been next to him,” Myers said. “The look on my face is…to be honest with you, I thought I handled it well. I was like “This is what’s happening…” Because live TV is my milieu, and improv is my training, you know. It has been painful that the culture has at times meditated on my surprise, when it’s really the message, dude. The message, the message, the message, you know. There’s a world of fail culture, and it’s hardly a fail on my part to be next to the guy that spoke truth to power at a time when horrific injustices…”
As for his movie career, Myers also told GQ he would be prepared to revisit “Austin Powers” and “Wayne’s World” in the future.
“I’m prepared to do anything, you know,” he said. “If it’s good. If it feels like it’s going to be thrilling.”
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