Elinor Burkett Explains Her Oscar 'Kanye' Moment

By Megan Rumph Posted Mar 10th 2010 11:58AM

Elinor Burkett, the woman who has been dubbed "Lady Kanye" for her interruption of Roger Ross Williams during his Oscar acceptance speech, gave us the most unscripted moment of the award show last Sunday night. She's gotten a lot of negative attention, but Burkett went on 'The Joy Behar Show' to defend her Oscar ambush and explain what exactly was going through her head when she stormed the stage.

"I had two choices right? Either I could let him blather on for 45 seconds... Or I could interrupt so I get to talk," she said. "Everybody thinks I was bad for interrupting him, they don't think he was bad for, like, bigfooting me to prevent me from speaking at all."

She also suggested another way of looking at it. "Maybe I'm just like a middle-aged crazy person," she joked. Watch the interview after the jump!

Burkett may have "pulled a Kanye," but she stresses one important difference: Kanye didn't win the award, and she did. Although 'Music by Prudence' director Williams has said that Burkett didn't have anything to do with the movie, she disagrees.

"I have nothing to do with the movie? You see my name on this Oscar?" she said. "I don't think that the Academy would have given me the Oscar if I had nothing to do with the movie." Burkett was the producer of the documentary.

She also explains that she interrupted Williams in order to give recognition to the subjects of the winning documentary. "If I don't get to that stage within three seconds, he's not going to thank the band, he's only going to talk about himself," she said when Behar asked what was going through her mind.

"This is not 'Avatar,'" Burkett continued, explaining that the category was not as high-profile as others. "This is a documentary film. So the speech needs to be about the subjects of the film. The speech needs to be about the band."

She even calls foul on William's statement that his mother wasn't blocking Burkett from getting into the aisle, but merely standing to hug him. "He didn't even turn to his mother!" she said. "He didn't hug her. By the time his mother started to get up, he was halfway to the stage into his acceptance speech."

Although Burkett has gotten a lot of flack from the media for her "Kanye" moment, she told Behar about a few cheering fans she met at the airport. She said one woman asked her, "You're the one who wouldn't let that rude boy speak, right?"

Tags: Elinor Burkett, joy behar

Comments

(11)

Wednesday 10 March

By rocknnroln

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whatever it takes to cover your a** i guess

By JT

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I heard she's going to the BET Award Show with Allen Iverson.

By NANCY

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What a B****!!! I thought she was totally rude for interrupting him at the Oscars. There was no excuse for it.

By Dave

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What a bunch of crap! That butt pirate Roger Ross Williams tried to hijack HER AWARD! She was the CREATOR of this film, and he is a thief. Best way to shut him up would be a penis in his mouth, definitly a bone smoking, limp wristed drama queen. No offense but she GAVE HIM a chance with this movie and he repaid her with deciept. HE is a CHEATER! She only wanted what was HERS!

By ETTE

And how do you know she is Jewish, or lucky enough to be Jewish, you moron.

By Ette

She was totally unprofessional, disrespectful, rude, arrogant and ignorant. She knows she was wrong, and offers some BS excuse to make herself appear in the right. It was deplorable. And, she said he was blathering, as if anyone could understand her? Just totally unprofessional. A disgrace.

By Howard

"Maybe I'm just like a middle-aged crazy person,"

Well, at least she figured it out. If she wanted to have her say, there was a classy way to do it, and she blew it. It's not exactly the same, but "Lady Kanye" certainly fits.

Friday 12 March

By mazzo

Right on Elinor! Get your props! I applaud your integrity and guts! You are a true American!

By Koz

Just another *itch.

By Diva1961

So why couldn't she let him speak for half the time and she the other half. His name is ALSO on the award. She came up and just pushed him out of the way. She didn't stand there for a moment and let him speak for a moment then step into the mic. She just pushed him out of the way while he was in mid-sentence. That's RUDE no matter what anyone says.

Thursday 11 March

By themeeker

Middle aged? Lady, you really are buggin because you're OLD. Shut your dentures, you were wrong. AND YOU'RE A RUDE AZZHOLE.

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