Evel Knievel Suing Kanye West
Kanye West appears to have filmed his video “Touch the Sky,” in which he appears in Evel Knievel’s jumpsuit to jump a canyon in a skycycle, without the permission of Evel Knievel. I thought the video was stupid. But Evel Knievel goes further to call the video “the most worthless piece of crap I’ve ever seen in my life.”
From the AP here:
TAMPA, Fla. – Evel Knievel has sued Kanye West, taking issue with a video in which the rapper takes on the persona of “Evel Kanyevel” and jumps a motorcycle over a canyon.
Knievel filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday claiming infringement on his trademark name and likeness. He also claims the “vulgar and offensive” images depicted in the video damage his reputation.
“That video that Kanye West put out is the most worthless piece of crap I’ve ever seen in my life, and he uses my image to catapult himself on the public,” the 68-year-old daredevil said Tuesday.
The lawsuit asks for damages and seeks to halt distribution of the video. In the video for the song “Touch the Sky,” West dons the familiar Knievel star-studded jumpsuit and jumps a canyon in a vehicle “visually indistinguishable” from the Skycycle that Knievel used when he attempted to jump Idaho’s Snake River Canyon in 1974, the lawsuit said.
I remember sitting around the TV with my family to watch Evel Knievel try to jump the Snake River Canyon. After weeks of buildup, it turned out to be a flame-out. The skycycle didnt have nearly enough thrust and it plummeted into the canyon like Wile E. Coyote in a Roadrunner cartoon. But even with the disappointing finish, it was still one of the defining moments of the 70’s.
Kanye wasn’t even alive in 1974 when the stunt took place. But artistically, if he wants to do a spoof on Evel Knievel, he should go ahead. But he should have gotten permission to use the copyrighted and trademarked clothing and equipment first.
This video has also caused an uproar at the Europe MTV Music Awards. Kanye bumrushed the stage to complain about the winner for best video and that his video of “Touch the Sky” should have been the winner.
From MSNBC here:
In a tirade riddled with expletives, West said he should have won the prize for his video Touch The Sky, because it cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons. If I don t win, the awards show loses credibility. West said.
West has a particular affinity for the Touch The Sky video. In an interview with The Associated Press in August, he expressed his displeasure that the clip, an elaborate Evel Knievel spoof, didn t get nominated for an MTV Video Music Award.
Hey Kanye, take your nose out of your big box o’ porn and listen up a minute. You did not jump a canyon. You were on a film set shooting special effects against a green screen.
I think it is amusing that this spoiled porn-addled idiot is going to be sued for damages and court costs over a video that already cost him a million bucks and a best video award.
