Prankster upstages West at Glastonbury
LONDON — Kanye West declared himself “the greatest living rock star on the planet” at Britain’s Glastonbury music festival. But that didn’t prevent a prankster from invading the rapper’s performance and upstaging him.
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.”
Dalai Lama at music festival: The Dalai Lama joined singer Patti Smith onstage Sunday at Glastonbury, where she led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to mark his 80th birthday next week. She then presented him with a birthday cake. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, who appeared at the festival for the first time, praised Smith’s white hair, voice and “physical action,” saying she was “very beautiful, very forceful.”