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Dirtbike king fumes over rapper’s stunt

Dirtbike king fumes over rapper’s stunt

Biking legend ‘Evel’ Knievel filed an infringement suit against rap star, Kanye West, in a US District Court this week after West portrayed himself as a Knievel-like character in a recent pop video. The clip, which promotes West’s single, ‘Touch the Sky’, shows the rapper leaping a canyon on a stunt bike while dressed in a white, stars-and-stripes adorned jump suit. It also contains a typically hip-hop streak of risqué content, involving glamour girl Pamela Anderson, which has angered Knievel as much as the alleged infringement.

‘The guy just disgraced me,’ said the biker in a statement. ‘I have done the best I can to set an example for children, and then this guy comes along and tries to rip it apart.’

Knievel, 68 – whose real first names are Robert Craig – has been officially retired since 1975, although a one-off appearance on a 1977 US TV special left him with multiple break injuries following a crash. Earlier this year he announced that he was succumbing to respiratory illness, and in September, he had a stroke. His heyday image has been trademarked since 2001, and sales of Knievel merchandise have generated $300 million.

Knievel’s attorney – the appropriately named Richard Fee – said of West’s performance as ‘Kanyevel’: ‘It's not just a three-second snippet. The whole video is about Kanye West portraying Evel Knievel. It's rather blatant and obvious.’

Of the clip’s sexual content, Knievel himself said: ‘In my opinion, this video maybe reflects West and his way of life, but it's sure not mine. I don't want my children or my grandchildren associated with this kind of thing. I want it stopped.’

West’s people have declined to comment.

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