Obama Knocks Kanye's Ego Down A Notch

Does President Obama really call Kanye West's home to make small talk with the rapper? Not quite, as it turns out. Although West claimed in a recent chat with Oxford University students that he can call Obama out of the blue and that the leader of the free world calls him on his home phone number, anyone tuning in to Jimmy Kimmel Live on March 12 knows now that is not actually the case (if anyone thought it was true in the first place). President Obama called out Kanye West for not having his phone number live on the show.

When Jimmy Kimmel asked Obama about his personal take on the rapper, Obama said he has met him twice. He said the first time was back when he was a senator, around the time when West was first becoming famous. He said that West was "soft-spoken" and "gracious" during his first meeting. The second time the two met was during an event a few months back.

Obama addressed the phone number claims by saying, "Look, I love his music. He's incredibly creative. I don't think I've got his home number." Looks like our President is taking West's ego and grandiose visions down a notch. Funny enough, this isn't the first time he's done it, either!

Sure, the President and West might have been all smiles when they met for this photo, which, of course, was documented on Kim Kardashian's Instagram, but it's hard to forget Obama calling him a "jackass" — twice. The first time, perhaps not surprisingly, was after West infamously interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and said her award should have gone to Beyoncé instead. Obama called West a "jackass" in an off-the-record comment during a CNBC interview that became public on Twitter after it was prematurely tweeted by ABC's Terry Moran.

But in 2012, Obama made no qualms about publicly calling West a "jackass" in an interview with The Atlantic. While the interview mainly focused on, you know, political topics, Obama was also asked about his musical preferences. After saying that Jay Z was his favorite rapper, Obama had some nice things to say about West, such as that he was "smart" and "talented," along with being a "Chicago guy," which, keeping in mind that Obama hails from the Windy City, had to be a plus. Of course, the interviewer couldn't pass up the chance to ask for a follow-up of Obama's off-the-record comment from a few years before. And Obama confirmed what he said before, saying, "He is a jackass. But he's talented."

It's clear that even though Obama may enjoy West's tunes, he probably thinks — like much of America — that the hip hop star could stand to dial it down a bit from time to time. Political views aside, many Americans probably would agree with him on that point. Check out the video from Jimmy Kimmel below and see what you think!