Claim: Kanye West proclaimed: "I am the next Nelson Mandela."
FALSE
Example: [Collected via e-mail, December 2013]
Is it true that Kanye said "I am the next Nelson Mandela"?
Origins: On 6 December 2013, the day after the passing of South African anti-apartheid figure Nelson Mandela, the Daily Currant published an article positing that rapper Kanye West was taking heat for having likened himself to Nelson Mandela in an interview:
In an interview with WGCI radio in Chicago, the notoriously self-promoting rapper said that the 95-year-old South African leader recent death will finally allow people to focus more of their attention on West's own accomplishments. In the studio to promote his new music video "I am the next Nelson Mandela," West responded. "I'm only
Kanye West is under fire today for claiming that he will soon be a bigger cultural and civil rights icon than Nelson Mandela.
By the end of the day links and excerpts referencing this article were being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered it mistaking it for a genuine news item. However, no such interview took place, and Kanye West made no such
As noted in the Daily Currant's "About" page, that web site deals strictly in satire:
Q. Are your news stories real? A. No. Our stories are purely fictional. However they are meant to address real-world issues through satire and often refer and link to real events happening in the world.
The Daily Currant is an English language online satirical newspaper that covers global politics, business, technology, entertainment, science, health and media.
Last updated: 25 January 2015