Kanye West, Today Show PR Issue | Susie Arons Still With Rubenstein

Contrary to reports, Susie Arons, the Rubenstein Communications Executive Vice President said to have quit the long-standing New York publicity firm, is still there. This, in the wake of Kanye West's disastrous appearance on the Today show with Matt Lauer.

In case you were hiding under a rock, here's a video recap of what happened in the form of the actual Today segment:



As shown, President George W. Bush said that Kanye West's idea that he didn't care about black people was the worst moment of his life. That includes what happened to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and both wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Unbelievable.

West reportedly was invited to appear on the Today show, according to New York Post Page Six, West hired Susie Arons to "coach" him for the show segment. She advised against going on, but he did so anyway, and called her. They practiced what he was going to say, but as you can see, the coaching didn't take well.

What West should have done was speak his mind. It could have been a good moment for America, if West explained institutional racism and its impact. But, then again, West obviously isn't the best spokesperson for such a subject.

West Goes To Twitter

Because he was afraid of taking on Lauer in person, West took to Twitter to blast the show for "ambushing" him by showing the segment from the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Indeed, it wasn't an ambush by the Today show at all; showing clips during an interview is a common practice.

Susie Arons Can't Control Kanye

Susie Arons can't control what Kanye says, she can only offer suggestions, argue, and in the worst case tackle him in an attempt at restraint, but she can't control Kanye West.  But the news is Susie Arons - along with colleagues Assistant Vice President Pristina Alford and Senior Vice President Kimberly Kress, all still work together in the New York office of Rubenstein.

It's also clear that Susie's engagement was a "one-off" and she's not part of his standard team.  She was called in to do a job, and she did it.  From a morbid perspective, it got Rubenstein Communications more publicity that it could afford to generate on its own.

Meanwhile, West still refers to the Today show matter on Twitter, crediting the New York Times for getting the story right.  Specifically, the NY Times ArtsBeat article post.