Source: Edward Berthelot / Getty
Kanye West sat down with conservative journalist Tucker Carlson yesterday for the latter’s eponymous Fox News show. The 45-year-old entertainer, also known by his moniker Ye, addressed a number of topics at the front of the public’s mind. But one of the most pressing questions for Ye was why would he ever wear a shirt emblazoned with the line “White Lives Matter?”
“People, they’re looking for an explanation. And people say, ‘Well as an artist, you don’t have to give an explanation,'” Ye told the show host. “But as a leader, you do. So the answer to why I wrote ‘White Lives Matter’ on a shirt is because they do. It’s the obvious thing!”
Carlson then asked why the saying would ever be controversial in the first place. “Because the same people that have stripped us of our identity and labeled us as a color have told us what it means to be Black and the vernacular we’re supposed to have,” West answered.
The two went on to discuss West’s vocal support for former President Donald Trump and why the rapper liked Trump. And though Ye was open about his friendship with the twice-impeached POTUS, he also admitted there was a time that Trump saw him as a color, too.
“They thought Trump was a joke,” Ye began. “For older White people, they’re quick to classify a Black person only by the fact that we’re Black. Even Trump — a person that I would consider to be a friend of mine — when I went to the White House, I called him after that to get A$AP Rocky out of jail. And one of the things [Trump] said to me is, ‘Kanye, you’re my friend. When you came to the White House, my Black approval rating went up 40%.'”
“And for politicians, all Black people are worth is an approval rating,” he added. “The Democrats feel that they don’t owe us anything, and Republicans feel that they don’t owe us anything. Blacks have never demanded something for our vote. And that’s something I talked to Ice Cube about.”
West went further to talk about wearing clothes backing Trump and a “White Lives Matter” agenda have led to threats on his life.
“My so-called ‘friends-slash-handlers’ told me that if I said that I like Trump that my career would be over, [and] my life would be over,” he stated. “They said stuff like ‘People get killed for wearing a [MAGA] hat like that.’ They threatened my life. They basically said that I would be killed for wearing the hat.”
“Someone called me last night and said, ‘Anybody wearing a White Lives Matter shirt is gonna be greenlit.’ And that means they’re gonna beat ’em up if they wear it,” ” Ye continued. “And I’m like, ‘Y’know, okay, greenlight me then!'”
Another topic of interest on people’s minds was West’s recent beef with Vogue editor and stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson. The entertainer used the moment to express why he thinks he really earned the ire Gabriella Karefa-Johnson. However, he also went on to make arguably objectionable statements about the body positivity movement, dragging R&B singer Lizzo into the mix.
“There’s a group mob of… it’s like liberal Nazis that will go up and attack you,” he said. “This Gabi girl and Gigi [Hadid] and these people, they would have never said anything negative unless they got the ‘OK’ from Condé Nast, unless they got the ‘OK’ from [the artistic director of Condé Nast and the Global Editorial Director of Vogue Anna Wintour].
“Now let’s talk about Gabi and my good friend Lizzo,” West continued. “Lizzo works with my trainer, a friend of mine, Harley Pasternak. When Lizzo loses 10 pounds and announces it, the bots, they attack her for losing weight because the media wants to put out a perception that being overweight is the new goal when it’s actually unhealthy… and for people to promote that is demonic.”
Watch the video below to watch Kanye West’s interview in its entirety. Let us know if you think he’s evil or he’s stupid — or maybe possibly onto something.
