TwitterKanye West is sorta apologizing for a story he told about famed photographer Annie Leibovitz dropping out as his and Kim Kardashian's wedding photographer.
While speaking at the 2014 Cannes Lions Festival on Tuesday, the 37-year-old rapper explained that Leibovitz "pulled out of the wedding" the day before the ceremony forcing him to work on and retouch their first kiss photo for four days post-ceremony. And today, Kanye and Leibovitz released a joint statement clarifying the whole ordeal.
The joint statement reads:
Kanye West's comments about Annie Leibovitz while speaking at the 2014 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival have been taken out of context and sensationalized.
Although Kanye expressed frustration that he was not able to collaborate with Annie Leibovitz at his recent wedding, he is not assigning blame, and is not accusing Annie in any way. Kanye and Annie's representatives were in negotiations for weeks that were not completed by the time of the wedding.
"Annie would have been happy to do the portrait but she was never confirmed," said a representative for Leibovitz.
It was Kanye's dream to bring together for the wedding his favorite creatives—Ricardo Tisci on the dress, Vanessa Beecroft on the experience, and Andrea Bocelli—Kim's favorite singer—singing Kim's favorite song as she walked down the aisle. The first choice to capture one of the most special days in Kim and Kanye's life: Annie Leibovitz.
Annie Leibovitz—the legendary photographer responsible for Kim and Kanye's recent Vogue cover—is not known to shoot weddings. But Kanye West dreams big. He loves and respects Annie as a true artist and wanted to bring her eye for beauty to the imagery of the event. In his Cannes Lions panel with Steve Stoute and tech guru godfather Ben Horowitz, Kanye was referencing Annie as an example of how to merge culture and tech.
"Picture this," said Kanye. "The most-liked Instagram photo of all time, shot by Annie Leibowitz. Oh, I'm sorry for dreaming out loud. Again."
Hopefully, Leibovitz will get to shoot Kimye during a future family milestone.