On September 2, 2005, during a benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina relief on NBC, "A Concert for Hurricane Relief", rapper Kanye West was a featured speaker. Controversy arose when West was presenting, as he deviated from the prepared script, criticizing the slow federal response. Actor Mike Myers, with whom West was paired to present, spoke next and continued to read the script. Once it was West's turn to speak again, he said "George Bush doesn't care about black people." At this point, telethon producer Rick Kaplan cut off the microphone and then cut away to Chris Tucker, who was unaware of the cut for a few seconds. Still, West's comment reached much of the United States. West also went on to say that America has been set to help the poor as slow as possible.