Kanye West shocked fans and fellow artists with a series of tweets endorsing Donald Trump this week.
One of those fellow artists was his friend John Legend, who reached out to the rapper directly asking to “reconsider” his support of the US president, only to have his private texts end up on Kanye’s Twitter feed.
“I hope you’ll reconsider aligning yourself with Trump,” John wrote in the text. “You’re way too powerful and influential to endorse who he is and what he stands for.”
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 26, 2018
Appealing to a sense of duty to fans that he hoped Kanye possessed, the singer spoke about how damaging his support may be.
“As you know, what you say really means something to your fans. They are loyal to you and respect your opinion. So many people who love you feel so betrayed right now because they know the harm that Trump’s policies cause, especially to people of colour. Don’t let this be part of your legacy. You’re the greatest artist of our generation.”
Kanye’s text response to the heartfelt and reasonable plea – which he also shared in the screenshot to Twitter – was to accuse his friend of trying to manipulate him.
“I love you John and appreciate your thoughts. You bringing up my fans or my legacy is a tactic based on fear used to manipulate my free thought.”
On Wednesday in the US, the 40-year-old father-of-three caught the world media’s attention when one of his messages was retweeted by the president.
Thank you Kanye, very cool! https://t.co/vRIC87M21X
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2018
In it, he described Trump as his “brother” and said that while he doesn’t “agree with everything anyone does”, the “mob can’t make me not love him”.
Later he shared a photo of his signed ‘Make America Great Again’ cap, a snap which the president also retweeted.
my MAGA hat is signed ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/DrDHJybS8V
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 25, 2018
This strong message of support for the controversial leader has led many of his contemporaries to unfollow him on Twitter, including Drake, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Harry Styles and Kendrick Lamar. Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian haven’t let their family bonds stop them from unfollowing their brother-in-law either.
Meanwhile, when John Legend realised his text messages were being shared on Twitter, he decided to use the opportunity to plug his new song, instead of getting upset.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 26, 2018
The 39-year-old’s wife, model Chrissy Teigen, weighed in on her husband’s text exchange being made public, using the opportunity to point out that just because she doesn’t comment publically on something, doesn’t mean she doesn’t care.
“When it comes to people we know, we DO speak up. To THEM. not on Twitter. And sometimes, I guess it makes it to Twitter,” she wrote.
Everyone keeps asking me to comment on shit. Comment on psycho Tami Lasagna, whom I refuse to give the joy to, say something about RHOA, speak up about kanye. When it comes to people we know, we DO speak up. To THEM. not on Twitter. And sometimes, I guess it makes it to Twitter.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) April 26, 2018
As for Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian, a follow-up tweet from Yeezy on Wednesday suggested that she was not totally pleased with his vocal support of Trump.
“My wife just called me and she wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don’t agree with everything Trump does. I don’t agree 100% with anyone but myself,” he wrote.