Kanye says sorry for his Billboard Music Awards performance

Also: Politician joins condemnation of Game of Thrones rape scene; Melissa McCarthy celebrates star of Hollywood Walk of Fame; Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai wins Man Booker International Prize; and Patang director Prashant Bhargava dies at age of 42

Kanye West performs All Day at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday night. Mario Anzuoni / Reuters

Kanye West has apologised to TV viewers who watched his performance on the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday.

The rapper complained that he had been “grossly over-censored” during his performance on the show. He says some of his lyrics were muted for 30 seconds, which misrepresented his voice and performance.

The audience at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena booed as West performed his songs All Day and Black Skinhead during the ceremony, which was broadcast on ABC.

West apologised to the TV audience who, he says, was “unable to enjoy the performance the way he envisioned”. – AP

US politician criticises Game of Thrones rape scene

A US senator is among a growing number of Game of Thrones fans who have condemned a rape scene on the latest episode of HBO's smash-hit drama.

In a Tweet on Tuesday, Claire McCaskill described the sexual assault as “gratuitous” and “disgusting.” The Democrat politician, from Missouri, added that she would no longer be watching the show.

Others critics included the website The Mary Sue, which offers a feminist view of pop culture. It posted a message saying that rape should not be a device to drive a story and it would no longer be featuring Game of Thrones.

The attack, involving one of the show’s leading female characters happened off-camera, with the horror reflected in her cries and the distress on the face of another character who was forced to watch.

The scene was similar to one in the books by George RR Martin on which the show is based but it involves a different female character who does not appear in the TV version. Last season, HBO also faced criticism of over another scene involving two of the main characters which was perceived by many as a rape. – AP

Melissa McCarthy delighted with star on Walk of Fame

Comedy actress Melissa McCarthy was immortalised on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame on Tuesday.

The 44-year-old, an Oscar nominee for her turn in 2011 comedy Bridesmaids, became the 2,552nd recipient of a star on Hollywood Boulevard during a ceremony attended by family and friends, including husband Ben Falcone and comic Ellen DeGeneres.

“I can’t believe what’s happening,” McCarthy told well-wishers. “It’s like a fever dream,” she added, paying tribute to the support shown by her parents when she decided to pursue a career in stand-up comedy.

“I’m not sure why they did it, I have no idea. But every time I said ‘I’m going to quit college and do stand-up’, my mom and dad said, ‘Great, work really hard at it, you can probably do it,’” she said. “They continued to say that for the 20 years it took me to actually do it steadily ... In a way, you really give terrible advice. Somehow, that worked.”

Born in Chicago in 1970, McCarthy began her career as a stand-up comic in New York before finding regular television work in the 2000-2007 show Gilmore Girls and the 2007-2009 comedy Mike & Molly, which earned her an Emmy award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy.

She has regularly appeared on Saturday Night Live and in big-screen comedies including The Heat, Identity Thief and The Hangover Part III. She is also due to appear in a reboot of Ghostbusters set for release in July 2016. – AFP

Booker prize honour for Hungarian author

Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai won Britain’s Man Booker International Prize for career achievement on Tuesday, saying he hoped it would help him to reach a wider audience.

In his acceptance speech during a ceremony in the Victoria & Albert Museum, the 61-year-old credited author Franz Kafka, singer Jimi Hendrix and the city of Kyoto in Japan for inspiration.

“I hope that with the help of this prize I will find new readers in the English-speaking world,” he said later.

Asked about the apocalyptic images in his work, he said: “Maybe I’m a writer who writes novels for readers who need the beauty in hell.”

Best known in Germany and Hungary, Krasznahorkai is the author of Satantango (1985), which was later made into a film, The Melancholy of Resistance (1998) and Seiobo There Below (2008).

Previous winners of the Man Booker International Prize, which is awarded every two years, include US writer Philip Roth and Canada’s Alice Munro. – AFP

Patang director dies at age of 42

Prashant Bhargava, a deeply humane filmmaker and artist best known for the 2011 film Patang (The Kite), died Friday of cardiac arrest in New York. He was 42. His sister Anurima Bhargava confirmed the news on Tuesday.

A native of Chicago in the United States, Bhargava studied computer science at Cornell University and worked in music videos and commercials for most of his career, creating promotional spots for HBO shows including The Wire, OZ and Rome.

Patang, Bhargava's only narrative feature, followed six stories in Ahmedabad, India, during the country's largest kite festival. In his four-star review of the film, the late film critic Roger Ebert called it joyous and lovely. – AP