West shared his conversation with Emory, who had previously served as his own brand director, to his account on Friday night. The conversation began with a discussion of clothing designer Virgil Abloh, another former employee of West’s who died of cancer in November 2021.
West and Emory have been sparring with each other since the controversy involving West’s “White Lives Matter” T-shirt at a Paris fashion show, after which Emory urged West to not use Abloh’s name as part of his “victim campaign.” West described the new posts as “an abbreviated version of me and Tremaines conversation this morning.”
“You still aint tell the people why you weren’t invited at Virgils private funeral,” Emory texted to West, according to the screenshots. “Why you rode on him when you knew he was sick … That’s the st that can’t address …. The st you can’t live with … All the hate you spewed on your brother.”
“Good to hear from you b**ch,” West responded. “I hated Virgil’s designs and you did too … If you loved his designs so much … Why you and Luka not wearing it head to toe … Christine told me he didn’t have cancer and I believed her.”
Emory replied by saying that he had personally informed West of Abloh’s cancer diagnosis, adding that the rapper was “so full of s**t.”
West countered that “Virgil never said anything to me hisself,” adding that he had only ever hired Emory because Abloh was unavailable due to being hired by Louis Vuitton.
“No you fired Virgil,” Emory responded. “Virgil worked himself for years before the Louie job.”
West told Emory that he had been “jealous” and “betrayed and lied to” by Abloh, but added “I love Virgil too and I miss him.”
“I guess this is your longwinded answer to why you didn’t get invited to your brother funeral,” wrote Emory.
“So he is my brother then,” West replied.
West went on to say that his “life is forever changed by Virgil just as his was forever changed by mine.” He then said that he was sorry “as a Christian” for “always judging” Emory for being an atheist.
“I’m Actually agnostic,” Emory’s last response shared on Instagram stated. “Big difference..LOL.”
The comparison was made during an interview segment that aired on the Friday night edition of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight. West told host Tucker Carlson that he and right-wing pundit Candace Owens were making an “empathetic statement” by wearing the controversial shirts and suggested that Paris Fashion Week was the “liberal central” version of Tiananmen Square. He also suggested that God had chosen him to be successful and that his actions would lead to “more wins” for the “Jesus gang.”
“Why am I alive, why am I protected?” asked West. “Why did I become the richest Black man of all time? Like, how did that happen? … The more and more I lean into God and work for God, the more wins God is going to bestow on our team. On Jesus gang.
“And for me to go out and just state an obvious and empathetic statement in the middle of the most liberal central, like to go, that was like Tiananmen Square or something, right?” he continued, prompting laughter from Carlson. “With Candace Owens, and we both wore the shirt at the same time.”
The UK government estimated that the death toll following the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square was as high as 10,000, according to the BBC. The protests, led by students, ended after the Chinese government mobilized the military and massacred many of those taking part in the demonstrations.
West made the strange remarks during a portion of his interview with Tucker Carlson, which aired Friday night on Fox News. After Carlson asked whether “the medical establishment’s response” to COVID-19 had “changed” his view of the pandemic, the rapper bizarrely pivoted and connected the school shooting, which left 21 people dead, with the retailer.
“You know, I felt like the people at The Gap knew about the school shooting that Matthew McConaughey was talking about before it even happened,” said West. “It was so in synced, the information. And then I heard about it on the radio, driving. And I was like, am I in The Truman Show right now?”
Carlson appeared confused by the response and asked West to clarify why he was connecting The Gap to the shooting. West replied by insisting that he was “not saying” they did have prior knowledge but that the company, the media and the shooting somehow felt “in sync.”
“I’m not saying that they did, but it felt so in sync,” West said. “This idea of, like, this media rush over the 78 specific outlets. That influence.”
Carlson suggested to West that he was referring to a “coordinated message,” prompting him to agree. West lamented that there was no “coordinated message” about children being killed in Chicago every week before asking Carlson whether his rant had become too conspiratorial, referencing Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
“Have I reached Alex Jones territory yet?” West asked while chuckling.
“No, I think you’re telling the truth,” Carlson responded before adding that it was “OK” if West did reach “Alex Jones territory.”
West went on to say that it “hurts [his] feelings” when people accuse him of being “crazy,” bemoaning the audacity of those “less successful” than him asking about his mental health.
“Someone that’s less successful than me, having the right to ask me about me, like they’re a f***ing doctor,” he said. “What, do you want me to put some ice on it? Put some ice on my brain, it’s gonna fix it? … If that worked, we wouldn’t have hospitals, we’d just have ice dens.”
West said that control was “the most important thing you can have” during a portion of his interview with Carlson that aired on Friday night. He made the remark after condemning corporations for promoting the Black Lives Matter movement, which he called “a scam” while promoting “White Lives Matter” T-shirts earlier this week.
“There’s all of these weird operators inside of companies,” West said. “They’re just there for control. Steve Jobs talked about it. It’s the most important thing you can have, is control. Look at me—all the money, all the influence, and I have to act a complete ass to have any say-so of anything that my children are doing.”
West went on to say that the corporations were “all in cahoots,” after suggesting the companies had been “set up” to control children.
“Because that group of people have control and say so over all the children inside of the clan,” he said. “So, that’s what these companies are set up for.”
Meek was one of several rappers to speak out against West’s recent behavior on Friday. Previously, Boosie BadAzz said that West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, need to get “help,” while comparing the situation to a “real life” version of the movie Get Out. Sean “Diddy” Combs urged West to change his behavior in a series of contentious and controversial text messages that Ye later shared on Instagram.
“I used to listen to ye every night and jail for motivation on god!” Meek said Friday on Instagram. “And came home and watched him s**t on my name and brand like nothing …. I ain’t say nothing … but … It hurts my heart to even know some of y’all this crazy and lame.
“What you be doing for fame driving you crazy,” he continued. “Look how hard you came at me ni**as know I’m vocal it’s like you hate your own people.”
In screenshots shared to his Instagram account, West claimed that “Jewish people” had “told” Diddy to “threaten or influence” him against the promotion of his “White Lives Matter” T-shirts. He captioned the Instagram post “Jesus is Jew.”
Advocacy groups including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) soon condemned the exchange, as well as West’s T-shirts and comments that he made concerning former President Donald Trump’s Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner during his Carlson interview.
“The behavior exhibited this week by @kanyewest is deeply troubling, dangerous, and antisemitic, period,” said on Twitter. “There is no excuse for his propagating of white supremacist slogans and classic #antisemitism about Jewish power, especially with the platform he has.”
In a separate tweet, AJC took aim at West’s “incoherent rants laden with racist and antisemitic undertones made on the country’s top cable news program” and “anti-Jewish posts shared with his 18 million followers on Instagram.”
“Kanye West should figure out how to make a point without using antisemitism,” AJC said in a video accompanying the tweet. “Over the last week the musician has fomented hatred of Jews… Ye needs to learn that words matter.”
Liora Rez, the Executive Director of the group StopAntisemitism, also told Newsweek that West “zero excuses to spew baseless and confusing messages about Jews, specifically when antisemitism has been set ablaze across America.”
Adidas said in a statement to Reuters that the “Yeezy partnership,” which has been in place since 2013, was “one of the most successful collaborations in our industry’s history” but “all successful partnerships are rooted in mutual respect and shared values.”
“After repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation, we have taken the decision to place the partnership under review,” the company said. “We will continue to co-manage the current product during this period.”
In an Instagram post that has since been deleted, West responded with an expletive and a claim that Adidas “raped and stole” his designs.
“F**K ADIDAS,” West wrote. “I AM ADIDAS ADIDAS RAPED AND STOLE MY DESIGNS.”
The first part of the interview aired on Thursday. Carlson introduced the first segment by addressing a new clothing item West recently introduced at Paris Fashion Week. The T-shirt quickly generated controversy for its message, which read, “White Lives Matter.”
Carlson said “no one seemed to think to ask” West what the T-shirt’s message was about.
“But is West crazy? You can judge for yourself as you watch what we’re about to show you,” Carlson said just before the first segment of the interview began.
Part two is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.
West’s response to the suggestion of giving the money to the Black community “in a meaningful way” appeared to be positive.
The T-shirts have become a point of controversy for West since he introduced them at Paris Fashion Week. Earlier Friday, West posted a series of text message exchanges that appeared to show him arguing with friends about his plans for selling the clothing.
At about 2:30 p.m. PST, West shared a new screenshot from a text message that was time-stamped at 12:27 p.m. The screenshot did not show the name of the person West was exchanging messages with.
The other person suggested it would be “a beautiful move” to use some of the money generated from “White Lives Matter” T-shirt sales and “give in a meaningful way to our people unlike the Black Lives Matter did.” West has recently criticized Black Lives Matter, calling the movement a “scam.”
West applied the “love” text message emphasis to the suggestion and responded by saying, “Love this.” The screenshot he shared did not show any further comment from him about the idea, or on where that money might go if it is donated.
The T-shirts, which have generated controversy over the last several days, appeared to be a source of argument between West and some of his friends. West posted a series of screenshots on his Instagram account on Friday morning that seemed to show text message chains in which he reiterated his plans to sell the clothing.
Another set of photos that popped up Friday on West’s Instagram Stories were originally posted by Yasiin Bey, also known as the rapper Mos Def. Bey had posted what appeared to be his version of a “White Lives Matter” shirt, with a faded “v” in “lives” so that the message instead read, “White Lies Matter.” Bey tagged collaborator Anuar Khalifi in his initial Instagram post.
West shared the images in his Stories feed on Friday morning.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, expressed her “extreme disappointment” in West after his “White Lives Matter” shirts were featured in his Yeezy show at Paris Fashion Week.
“As a result of his display ‘White Lives Matter’ started trending in the U.S., which would direct support and legitimize extremist behavior, [much] like the behavior that took the life of her son,” Cooper-Jones, said in a statement to Rolling Stone through her attorney Lee Merritt. “That is the thing that Wanda and families like hers continue to fight against.”
Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was chased down by three white men while out for a jog and shot to death in February 2020.
Amid the backlash to his shirts, West posted on his Instagram story that “everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam.”
“This mockery of the Black Lives Matter movement and his now denunciation of the movement as some sort of hoax flies directly in the face [of what he’s said],” the statement continued. “It’s confusing for her, it’s confusing for the families to receive his support privately, but publicly to set us all back.”
Merritt also told Rolling Stone that Wests donated to the families of George Floyd, Arbery and Breonna Taylor at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Addressing controversies involving West just days after the rapper debuted a new “White Lives Matter” T-shirt at Paris Fashion Week and hours after an interview aired between West and Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, King said West “clearly loves” the former president and drew comparisons between the two individuals’ online behavior. Earlier Friday, West posted a series of screenshots on Instagram that appeared to show text message arguments between West and some of his friends about West’s plans to sell the new t-shirts.
King said people who have been referenced in Trump posts that depict violence on social media “start to have actual death threats,” a trend King said he has also noticed after some of West’s posts. When West “points his target” at a person, King said, “it has an actual impact on their life.”
“He and Trump are so similar that it makes sense that he would say, to this day, that he, you know, he loves Trump,” King said. “It makes perfect sense.”
West said “we are in a battle with the media” and “the majority of the media has a godless agenda, and their jokes are not working.”
He also blamed the media for the negative press coverage of him.
“This whole like ‘oh, Ye’s crazy’ and all these things, they don’t work because the media has, you know, they’ve also watched travesties happen, just even specifically to me, and just watch it and act like it wasn’t happening. And they stay quiet about it.”
Media scholar Kathy Kiely said this rant is more than just one “disgruntled celebrity,” it’s a dangerous “political tactic.”
“The problem is that when a celebrity or an important person or a politician and a prominent politician starts to talk like this, they may think it’s just a rhetorical flourish,” Kiely told Newsweek’s Simone Carter. “But there are people out there who think they’re getting messages through their tooth fillings, and they will act on that—they will act on that rhetoric.”
Kiely, the Lee Hills Chair in Free-Press Studies at the Missouri School of Journalism, said this type of “reckless rhetoric” can put other people in danger.
When a politician or a celebrity in the United States, which is traditionally a beacon for press freedom, Kiely said it “begins to devalue our traditional support for free speech for rhetorical purposes or to gain political points,” it signals to dictators and bad actors in other parts of the world that it is ok to dislike or even kill journalists.
Kiely said when someone with Kanye West’s stature says these thing, “it’s dangerous.”
“And by the way,” she added, “that virus is starting to become apparent in the United States as well.”
She said leaders have to be willing to take criticism and respond to it “in a factual, rational way.”
“If you’re just calling names, you’re just another Vladimir Putin,” she said. “So that’s who he wants to be, fine. But like I say, we know who he is.”
West posted a series of screenshots from a text conversation with Diddy on his Instagram Friday. Some of the messages include antisemtic sentiments from West.
In one of the messages, West said he will use Diddy as an example to “show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me.”
He captioned the post “Jesus is Jew.”
Amid the wave of criticism West’s post receive, the watchdog group StopAntisemitism commented on the post right away, saying “We strongly urge you to delete this.”
Liora Rez, the Executive Director of the watchdog group StopAntisemitism, told Newsweek’s Emma Mayer that West’s “provocateur” attitude and mental health issues are not excuses to spread antisemitism.
“Given his past, provocateur attitude and actions aside, this gives him zero excuses to spew baseless and confusing messages about Jews, specifically when antisemitism has been set ablaze across America,” Rez said.
Rez said West’s words are “in extremely poor taste” and tap into an age-old antisemtic myth and stereotype about Jewish control.
The group hopes West deletes the “highly problematic” post, but Rez does not expect an apology.
“I would normally say with an even keel-thinking human being, to maybe follow up with an apology. I don’t think he’s capable of that,” Rez said.
“I don’t think he understands when his wording is problematic, but we hope he deletes the Instagram posts,” she added. “Jews have enough issues as it is right now without him furthering any type of negativity towards us and hatred.”
King said public figures have had to hire additional security after West put them “in his crosshairs.” West generated controversy this week after debuting a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt at Paris Fashion Week and appearing to argue with friends over his plans to sell the clothing. On Friday morning, West posted a series of text messages that appeared to document exchanges he had with fellow rapper Diddy. He also called model Gigi Hadid a “privileged Karen” on Friday in response to comments she made earlier this week on Instagram.
King said of Hadid, “I can only imagine that over the past 24 hours since he’s done that, she has probably had an astronomical spike in violent sexist vulgar death threats.” When West “points his target” at a person, “it has an actual impact on their life,” King said.
King said West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, had to bring on additional security in the past, as did her ex-boyfriend, Pete Davidson.
“People end up basically becoming hermits because he’s put them in his crosshairs,” King said. “I just find him incredibly irresponsible.”
“Abortion is the silent genocide of black Americans and the Democrats protect it, fund it, and will do anything to force it to continue,” Greene said in a tweet.
Greene also called for Planned Parenthood, which she said was founded by a racists and eugenics supporters, should “pay reparations.”
In an interview which aired Thursday night on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, West wore a lanyard with a picture of a sonogram around his neck to show he is “pro-life” and said abortion is a form of black genocide.
He also said there are “more Black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point” and that “50 percent of Black death in America is abortion.”
“My Sofi Stadium show on November 4th just got canceled,” West posted on Instagram, according to Fox News. “I wonder if it had something to do with my White Lives Matter tee, what y’all think?”
West also shared a screenshot of a text message saying SoFi is no longer available “due to the inability to staff the event.”
His Instagram post, and many others, has since been deleted. The post came hours after West sat down for an interview with Tucker Carlson on the network Thursday night.
Boosie posted his comments on Twitter as West posted a series of comments of his own on Instagram, many of which appeared to show West arguing with friends about his new “White Lives Matter” t-shirts. West debuted the t-shirts earlier this week during a show at Paris Fashion Week.
Boosie said in his tweet he doesn’t want any “smoke” and that West’s loved ones “really need to get @kanyewest help.” He continued by saying the current situation involving West is “the Get Out movie” in “real life.”
Earlier Friday, West reportedly posted a screenshot of a Google Images search of Boosie on his Instagram account, which has since been removed. He told Boosie, “Don’t speak on me” in a caption for the post, according to reports by Complex.
The first post shows a text from West captioned “God is Love My brother misspoke to me but I still love him.”
West tells “Puff” that he didn’t like their conversation and told him he will be “selling these tees,” referring to his controversial White Lives Matter t-shirts.
Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs, has also been referred to as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Puffy.
“Nobody gets in between me and my money,” he wrote, later adding, “Come do something illegal to me now please.”
In a second post, Puff wrote back that as soon as he lands, “we’ll meet face to face.”
West replied with expletives and called Puff a “fed.”
In the next post, Puff told West to “stop playing these internet games” and assured him not to feel threatened.
“You’ll be fine,” he wrote, “Just love.”
West replied, “This ain’t a game” and then made comments some are calling anti-Semitic.
“I told you this was war,” West wrote. “Now gone get you some business.”
In another post, Puff wrote that he is “just trying to talk to [West] as a black man.”
“I’m talking to you because this is hurting our people,” he wrote. “Stop.”
West replied that he will post anything Puff texts him.
“I love you,” he wrote. “And you guys are breaking my heart.”
West added that he “accepts your apology in advance.”
West posted screenshots Friday morning of several text message chains on his Instagram page that appeared to show him arguing with friends about whether he should sell the shirts. In one text, West wrote, “I’m selling these tees” and added, “Nobody gets in between me and my money.”
His next post on Instagram read in part, “Ima be selling White Lives Matters tees later today.” He did not specify where or when the t-shirts will be on sale, adding only in the caption, “God is love.”
According to a report from Politico, Carlson told some program guests after the election that he had cast his ballot for West, not former President Donald Trump.
Carlson has favored Trump and his policies during his program, leading some to question whether his support for West was a joke.
“It’s his way of saying that he’s not just another Trumpette at Fox News like Sean Hannity,” a source familiar with those conversations told Politico, referring to Carlson’s fellow primetime opinion host and reputed internal rival.
Another Carlson associate told Politico that the Fox News host and the rapper have a real connection.
Before the election, Carlson said he would vote for West, according to a third person close to Carlson.
“He and Kanye get along. They both regularly find themselves in the crosshairs. They’re both pro-life,” this associate said.
Politico was unable to verify if Carlson wrote in West on his 2020 ballot when he voted in Lee County, Florida. A county official told the outlet that there were eight invalid write-in voted for president, including some for West.
Her comments, which were captured on camera, were made in response to comments Kanye West recently made on social media about the Black Lives Matter movement allegedly being a “scam.”
“Well, we gave $900,000 to that, and I’d like my money back,” Osbourne said. “Wish he could’ve said that before,” she added.
Osbourne was also asked about West’s recent interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, during which West discussed new “White Lives Matter” t-shirts he debuted earlier this week, which have generated significant controversy. Osbourne said she did not fully understand West’s “point” and encouraged people to “leave him alone” if they do not like his behavior.
“I don’t understand it, so I can’t say it’s evil, it’s not,” Osbourne said. “You can’t stop people from living their lives, doing what they do. Don’t go to his social media, don’t listen to his music, leave the guy alone. Let him do what he does, and if you don’t like him, do that. Leave him alone.”
Here are the main takeaways from the interview:
White Lives Matter
West talked about his “White Lives Matter” t-shirt that drew a lot of criticism at his Yeezy show during Paris Fashion Week Monday.
He said the shirt, which he wore along with conservative pundit Candace Owens backstage, was “funny.”
“I do certain things from a feeling,” West said. “I just channel the energy. It just feels right. It’s using a gut instinct, a connection with God, and just brilliance.”
West also recalled his father, an ex-Black Panther, who texted him about the shirts.
“He said, ‘White Lives Matter. Ha ha ha ha ha.’ And I said, ‘I thought the shirt was a funny shirt. I thought the idea of me wearing it was funny.’ And I said, ‘Dad, why do you think it was funny?’ He said, ‘just a Black man stating the obvious,’” West told Carlson.
He said that was his favorite response, adding that as an artist, he doesn’t have to give anyone an explanation.
“People, they’re looking for an explanation, and people say, ‘well, as an artist, you don’t have to give an explanation,’ but as a leader, you do,” West said. “So the answer to why I wrote White Lives Matter on a shirt is because they do. It’s the obvious thing.”
Lizzo, Abortion and Black Genocide
West said singer Lizzo’s weight and abortion and examples of the “genocide of the Black race” during the interview.
“It represents life, I’m pro-life,” West said when asked by Carlson why he’s wearing a lanyard with a picture of an ultrasound on it. “I don’t care about people’s responses. I care about the fact that there’s more Black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point. That 50 percent of Black death in America is abortion.”
He said there are systems in place that prevent his “good friend” Lizzo from losing weight.
“Now let’s talk about Gabby and my good friend Lizzo. Lizzo works with my trainer, a friend of mine, Harley Pasternak,” West said. “When Lizzo loses 10 pounds and announces it, the bots […] on Instagram, 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.”
West added that he weight is “clinically unhealthy” and people who promote her size are “demonic.”
Kim Kardashian
West is being accused of slut shaming his ex-wife Kim Kardashian after he criticized her for appearing with her “ass out” on a magazine cover.
“Kim is a Christian, but she has people who want her to go to Interview Magazine and put her ass out while she’s a 40-something-year-old multi-billionaire with four black children,” he said.
He also said he was unaware Kardashian was “close” with the Clintons.
MAGA and Trump
West also told Carlson that he was told his “life would be over” if he publicly supported former President Donald Trump.
The rapper has faced backlash for his support for Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
“I really felt like I think I started to really feel this need to express myself on another level when Trump was running for office and I liked him,” West told Carlson. “My so-called friends [and] handlers around me told me if I said that I like Trump that my career will be over. That my life would be over.”
“They said stuff like ‘people get killed for wearing a hat like that,’” he continued. “They threatened my life… they basically said that I would be killed for wearing the hat.”
Part two of the interview is set to air on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox News.
