Kanye West's recent visit to the TMZ headquarters, in which he said 400 years of slavery sounded like "a choice," has certainly stirred a lot of controversy and disappointment. Van Lathan, senior producer at TMZ, notably confronted West for his comments on Tuesday, much to the contentment of many on Twitter. In an interview with Complex, Lathan shared details on his interaction with West and the "bewilderment and disappointment" he felt.

Lathan told Complex he felt conflicted when he learned West would be visiting the TMZ offices. But after hearing West spew inaccurate rhetoric about African-American ancestors and slavery, he felt compelled to rebut West's comments in a "measured and focused" way.

"If you love hip-hop, if you love this culture, then there's no possible way that you don't have love for Kanye West, right?" Lathan told Complex part. "He's really been one of the voices that has reshaped things for a lot of people. Meeting him and seeing him in here today, obviously there's some sort of narrative or ministry that he's trying to push, but it's frustrating to see how in the world he fell so far in terms of relatability from where we are." He added, "When he said some of the things he said, it was almost like looking at everything that I looked up to and had influenced me so much, and wondered, was it all bulls**t? The interaction and the exchange I had with him was of genuine bewilderment and disappointment."

During West's visit, Lathan confronted the musician for his comments saying his words pose real threats to everyday people.

"…And while you are making music and being an artist and living the life that you’ve earned by being a genius, the rest of us in society have to deal with these threats to our lives," he said in part. "We have to deal with the marginalization that has come from the 400 years of slavery that you said for our people was a choice."

In the interview with Complex, Lathan explained he was trying to indicate that his words are as dangerous as a child with a gun.

"…I think the overall point and what I was trying to impart on Kanye West is that the most dangerous person you could give a gun to is a child and the reason why is because, in the child's innocence and ignorance, they don't know how dangerous the weapon is," Lathan said. "They don't understand how cataclysmic things can become once the weapon is used. They'll accidentally shoot anybody. As minorities we can't be accidentally shot by Kanye West, we can't. If he's gonna shoot, we gotta at least make sure he's aiming, we gotta make sure he has an actual point, or else it's just at random and all these things get out here…"

Lathan went on to add that since black Americans all don't live in an isolated community like Calabasas, as West and the Kardashian clan does, West doesn't have the right to make "cultural rules" he doesn't adhere to himself.

Read Lathan's full interview at Complex here.

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