Harry Belafonte meditates through interview

Between penning his memoir My Song, serving as the subject for the documentary Sing Your Song, and speaking out for Occupy Wall Street, sometimes a man just needs to sleep. Harry Belafonte was scheduled to appear via satellite on a Bakersfield, Calif., morning news program Friday, but the 84-year-old “King of Calypso” dozed off before the interview even began. Seeing that Belafonte was out for the count, the anchor explained that he was “taking a little nap.” Update: Belafonte’s rep Ken Sunshine has issued a statement that the singer was meditating and couldn’t hear the anchor’s prompt due to a “technical glitch” with his earpiece. See the full statement after the jump.

Said Sunshine, “After weeks of literally hundreds of interviews promoting his HBO documentary, memoir and CD, Mr. Belafonte had an early morning satellite TV tour this past Friday. True to form, there was a technical glitch in the feed to a local station in Bakersfield, Calif. His earpiece wasn’t working, so he decided to take the time to mediate before the rest of his Day-O. Mr. Belafonte is 84 years young, but sharper and more awake than most who have been interviewing him. Maybe the world would be a better place if more people took a moment to meditate.”

What do you think, PopWatchers? Can you blame Belafonte? Morning news patter can be dreadfully boring. Despite their attempts to compliment Belafonte, did the anchors’ hysterics come off as disrespectful? Or did they make the best of an awkward situation?