todayshow230.jpg

Courtesy: NBC

Kanye West was coached by high-powered public relations firm Rubenstein Communications prior to his interview with Matt Lauer on The Today Show, however despite the coaching, the rapper seemed to have been thrown a few curveballs during the taped interview.

West had hired the firm to help him address the controversy involving President George W. Bush ... stemming from the rapper's comment alleging that Bush doesn't care about Black people, according to the NY Times.

According to reports, Kanye had cancelled his Today Show appearance the night before the interview, but the next day, he said he'd go on with the interview as planned. The PR firm didn't know that he had decided to make the appearance, so the firm was reportedly left scrambling to coach West before his sit-down with Lauer.

Kanye had tweeted that he wanted to do the interview to clear up the Bush controversy and that he came "with only positive intent."

After watching how the interview went, we all saw how Kanye was clearly flustered ... despite being coached. The rapper said things like, “Can we be quiet for a second?” and to Lauer he said, “I didn’t need you guys to prompt my emotions. I don’t need all the jazz.”

West has since cancelled his November 26 concert on The Today Show. No word on whether he'll go forward with his performance for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which will be hosted by Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera.