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Prankster Invades Kanye West Stage At Glastonbury Festival
Kanye West declared himself “the greatest living rock star on the planet” at Britain’s Glastonbury Festival . But that didn’t prevent a prankster from invading the rapper’s performance and upstaging him.
Photo: Yui Mok/PA via AP
Performing on The Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, at Worthy Farm in Somerset, England.
West’s headline set Saturday night was briefly interrupted when comedian Lee Nelson stormed onto the stage, rapping along with the star. A security guard quickly bundled him offstage.
Later, Nelson – whose real name is Simon Brodkin – tweeted: “Some people were saying Kanye shouldn’t headline Glastonbury so I thought I’d give him a hand.”
The prank amused many fans, who recalled how West crashed Taylor Swift’s 2009 acceptance speech at the Video Music Awards.
It wasn’t the only amusing thing about West’s set, which presented a problem for the BBC’s subtitles team because of his often expletive-laden lyrics. Many on Twitter shared the comic wordplay that appeared on their screens in place of offensive words – including one subtitle that simply read: “He raps.”
West performed his hits, as well as Queen’s hit “Bohemian Rhapsody” – a rendition that divided opinion. He also gushed over his wife Kim Kardashian, who was supporting him backstage, saying she “brought this poetry out of me.” The couple earlier arrived at the festival by helicopter.