Kanye West

Rapper Kanye West blames MTV for Britney Spears' sluggish performance at the Video Music Awards. "Man, they were just trying to get ratings, and they knew she wasn't ready and they exploited her," the 29-year-old rapper said Tuesday on Sirius Satellite Radio's "The Morning Mash Up." The network made a "bad move" by having the troubled pop star open Sunday's event in Las Vegas, said West, who feels he should have kicked off the show with "Stronger," the first single from his new album, "Graduation." "They exploited her, they played me and I really don't mess with MTV," he said. Spears, 25, looked unprepared and nervous while performing her new song, "Gimme More," to a confused audience. In a praise-filled statement released Tuesday afternoon, MTV said it "... has a long and collaborative relationship with Kanye and we hope and look forward to continuing that meaningful relationship." West said he wanted to perform "Stronger" on the show's main stage. He said it was a blow to his ego when Justin Timberlake, who also hosted a suite party, ended up "on the big stage" to give the closing performance with Timbaland and Nelly Furtado. "Those are the big things, and you know what I do man, I really made the song Stronger,' you know, for stadiums," he said. West — who threw a tantrum backstage after losing all five categories for which he was nominated — said he has bonded with 50 Cent over what they view as disrespectful behavior from MTV. "So why do you have me do Stronger' in a suite, but you end the show with Justin?" he said. "I looked at 50 like, yo, we need to help each other as much as possible."