Let's face it, Kanye West never stops being controversial.
From a radio shock jock to a former President of the United States, these are all the celebrities
who can't stand the guy.
Rude, a bully, and someone who's completely out of touch.
That's what Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson called Kanye West, now known as "Ye," after
he said that Beck shouldn't have won Album of the Year at the 2015 Grammys for Morning Phase.
Instead of Beck, Kanye thought the award should have gone to Beyoncé for her self-titled album.
First, when Beck's name was called to accept the award, West began climbing to the stage
before heading back down, mimicking what he did to Taylor Swift in 2009 at the VMAs.
Based on the crowd's laughter, it was apparent that they thought West was clowning around,
but that wasn't the case.
In a post-Grammy interview with E! News, he said that Beck should "respect artistry" and
give Beyoncé his award.
Manson's letter appeared on her Facebook page soon after, and if she held back while blasting
West, it didn't look that way.
Manson wrote in a since-deleted post:
"Dear Kanye West, it is YOU who is so busy disrespecting artistry.
You [...] disrespect the talent, hard work and tenacity of all artists when you go so
rudely and savagely after such an accomplished and humble artist like BECK.
You make yourself look small and petty and spoilt."
"I can think he's a brat."
The singer and her band Garbage also responded to West's anti-Semitic comments, tweeting
they oppose all forms of hate.
Trying to tally Kanye West's controversial statements through the years is like trying
to count sand on the beach.
But the rapper will probably always be criticized for what he said in 2018 at TMZ Live:
"When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... For 400 years?
That sounds like a choice.
You were there for 400 years and it's all of y'all?
It's like we're mentally in prison."
The word "backlash" simply won't do to describe the responses that West received after his
words, because celebrities, historians, news pundits, and everyday people alike reacted
more than passionately.
Chris Brown was one of those folks and he called West a clown in a since-deleted Instagram post.
Brown also told people not to follow the rapper down his negative path.
Plus, in August 2021, the singer insulted West for leaving his verse off the song "New
Again," which was included on West's Donda album.
When Marilyn Manson showed up on stage at a listening event for Kanye's Donda album
in August 2021, actor Evan Rachel Wood expressed her disgust via a classic song.
Manson and Wood were a couple from 2007 to 2010.
And with a now-deleted statement on Instagram posted in February 2021, Wood accused the
veteran rocker of grooming, brainwashing, and manipulating for years.
It's a claim that Manson denied.
Two days after he was seen at West's event, Wood hopped onstage at the Bourbon Room in
Hollywood, California, and sang the New Radicals' "You Get What You Give."
Wood told the audience:
"I've been saving this but it seems like an appropriate time."
She then posted the performance on her Instagram page before deleting it, writing in the caption:
"For my fellow survivors who got slapped in the face this week.
I love you.
Don't give up."
Yes, it's true that she didn't mention Manson or West in her performance or in the caption,
but it's easy to assume that her cover was meant for both of them.
Plus, some might recall that New Radicals' lead singer, Gregg Alexander, takes a dig
at Manson in "You Get What You Give," which probably gave Wood even more incentive to
direct the song toward her ex.
This is a tale of two superstar rappers who went from friends to archenemies.
One of them is named Drake and the other is Kanye West.
In fact, there was a time when Drake spoke highly of West, telling MTV in 2013 that he
respected and admired him.
Then, some time afterward, there would be much discussion of the two men having a beef
with each other, but those rumors turned into fact in May 2018.
That has something to do with Virginia rapper Pusha T, who's signed to West's GOOD Music
label, releasing a Drake diss song called "The Story of Adidon."
In the cut, Pusha revealed that Drake had a secret son, and the Canadian rapper believed
that West helped leak the news to Pusha.
In a 2019 chat with Rap Radar, Drake admitted that beyond their issues, he still considers
West one of his favorite artists.
However, he also accused him of lying in his public statements of affection toward him.
Then, more drama was heaped on their conflict in 2021.
West released his Donda album on Sunday, August 29, and five days later Drake dropped his
Certified Lover Boy album.
Both rappers dissed each other on songs made for their albums, while their respective fans
debated online who would sell the most units.
Ultimately, West and Drake had somewhat of a truce in 2021.
A beef between Kanye West and Drake makes sense since they're arguably two of the biggest
rappers in the world, and rap is super competitive.
And West beefing with the Democrats?
"I love this guy right here.
Let me give this guy a hug.
I love this guy right here"
Yup, that also probably didn't surprise many people after he began embracing far-right
views and ideology.
But a beef between West and Jennifer Aniston?
Not even the most ambitious screenwriter would've thought of that storyline.
But yes, it actually happened, and the Friends star found herself in a virtual boxing ring
with West.
It all had to do with his 2020 presidential run.
"I am Kanye West and I approve this message."
Based on her wording, Aniston believed that West had no business running for the highest
office in the land, and she discouraged anyone from casting a ballot for him.
Aniston wrote on Instagram:
"It's not funny to vote for Kanye.
I don't know how else to say it.
Please be responsible."
So how did West respond?
He went for the obvious insult by tweeting that Friends wasn't funny.
But the rapper eventually deleted the tweet, so maybe he remembered an episode of the '90s
sitcom that humored him.
In hip-hop, there's old school rap and new school rap, but there should be a category
called "middle school rap."
Why?
Because oftentimes, rappers will bicker with each other like two eighth graders at recess,
which was the case between Kanye West and singer Ray J in 2013.
Some may recall that Ray J previously dated West's ex, Kim Kardashian, and he was in that
much talked-about sex tape with her.
So to throw a major insult at the Chicago-raised musician, Ray J released a song called "I
Hit It First," where he delivered some ultra sexual lyrics about Kardashian.
West responded by changing some of the lyrics to his song "Bound 2" when he stopped by Late
Night With Jimmy Fallon a few months after "I Hit It First" was released.
West brought up Ray's J's older and way more famous sibling, Brandy, in the new lyrics.
Then, in 2016, Ray J devoted another song to West, "Famous," after West depicted Ray
J in a video for his own song with the same name.
In Ray J's cut, which features Chris Brown, he implied that Kardashian and West were only
a famous couple because of that infamous sex tape.
Some might have been surprised to learn that Kanye West and Taylor Swift patched things
up after the rapper-producer interrupted her speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
"Are there any hard feelings towards him?"
"Uh, I don't know him.
And I’ve never met him."
The artists became friendly and started going to dinner together.
Swift also presented West with a Video Vanguard Award at the 2015 VMAs, so it appeared they
had gotten over whatever hump existed.
But in 2016, Kim Kardashian leaked a phone call between her then-husband and Swift after
the pop star denied approving the lyrics to West's song, "Famous," where he references her.
Swift talked about that phone call in a 2019 interview with Rolling Stone and said she
was tired of her contentious relationship with West.
Swift told the outlet:
"Some events took place to cause me to be [angry] when he called me a b---h.
[...] Basically, I got really sick of the dynamic between he and I. And that wasn't
just based on what happened on that phone call and with that song — it was kind of
a chain reaction of things."
At this point, no one should be surprised if Swift and West never speak again.
Kanye West is known for many things, and one of them is delaying the release of his albums.
It's often because he makes last-minute changes before putting them out, often removing the
vocals that other artists recorded for features.
It happened to Soulja Boy, who was set to appear on a song called "Remote Control" for
West's 2021 Donda album, only to find out that his contribution was nowhere to be found.
Soulja reacted on social media and was understandably frustrated that West wasn't straightforward
with him.
While speaking to TMZ, Soulja Boy noted that West's actions were cowardly, suggesting that
West used his label as a scapegoat and blamed it for Soulja's exclusion — and only after
Soulja became vocal about his frustration.
He tweeted a message about being with West's ex, Kim Kardashian, first while challenging
West to a fight.
Maybe Soulja shouldn't have expected to be on Donda until he actually heard his vocals
on the finished product, considering West's track record.
It could be easily said that J. Cole's relationship with Kanye West is a mystery.
Although the two haven't gotten into a flat-out argument that the public knows about, it always
seemed like Cole wasn't all that fond of his fellow rapper.
On Cole's 2016 single, "False Prophets," he slammed West and his music, but in 2018 it
looked like the two men settled their differences over the phone.
West eventually shared a screenshot of the call in a since-deleted tweet and wrote in
the caption, "We got love."
But Cole didn't appreciate the move, which he discussed with radio host Angie Martinez
that same year.
Cole told the host:
"He called me, but I would have never posted that or, like, tell him to post that.
[...] I told him, 'It felt like you just used my name in that very quick conversation for
social media and ... to keep your thing going, whatever you were doing.
It felt like it wasn't sincere because of that.'"
J. Cole ultimately felt as though West used him "as a pawn."
West never explained why he posted a screenshot of the call, but it appeared that the two
became at least civil with each other, sitting together at the NBA All-Star game in 2020.
You know you really messed up when your heavily criticized actions land on the President of
the United States' radar.
In 2009, after Kanye West infamously yanked the microphone from Taylor Swift, Barack Obama
reacted, according to a tweet from an ABC reporter named Terry Moran.
But the former President didn't give his take on West during a press conference or an interview;
his words were captured while he was speaking off-record, calling West a "jackass."
"Why would he do that?"
"He's a jackass."
The reporter's tweet eventually made its way around the Internet and landed in multiple headlines.
In fact, so much was made of Obama's comment that a White House spokesperson addressed
it, saying it was truly off the record and wrong for ABC to send the tweet.
But three years later, the two-term president spoke about West interrupting Swift's speech,
and this time what he said was very much on record.
Obama's words came after a reporter from The Atlantic asked him to choose West or Jay-Z.
Obama chose Jay-Z but said he liked West, calling him a Chicago guy who's smart.
When pressed about the 2009 jackass comment, Obama said he was one, but still thought he
was talented.
"Look, I love his music; he's incredibly creative."
Being branded as the "shock jock" for much of his career, Howard Stern knows what it's
like to be on the receiving end of heavy criticism.
But in October 2022, it was his turn to show condemnation after Kanye West made disparaging
remarks about the Jewish Community.
Stern, who's Jewish, let West have it on his SiriusXM show while saying the rapper is using
his diagnosed bipolar disorder as an excuse to express hate.
Stern said on his show:
"I'm really tired of people excusing his behavior by saying, 'Well, he's just mentally ill.'
[...] If he's so mentally ill, why don't they appoint a conservator over his money like
they did with the poor Britney Spears?"
The radio host played a portion of West's interview with NewsNation's Chris Cuomo as
well and took issue that he complained about the media not referring to him as a billionaire.
"They always say 'the rapper.
The rapper.'"
Stern added:
"If a newspaper article doesn't point out the fact that you're some sort of designer
or genius, maybe that's not because they're Jewish, but maybe because you just don't put
that much thought into who [...] you are and what your business is."
When Kanye West sent a racist tweet about those in the Jewish faith on October 9, 2022,
Jamie Lee Curtis was one of the many people who responded.
The actress tweeted:
"The holiest day in Judaism was last week.
Words matter.
A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide.
Your words hurt and incite violence.
You are a father.
Please stop."
As of October 2022, her response has racked up nearly 25,000 likes and over three thousand retweets.
Curtis then stopped by the Today show the following day to promote her film Halloween
Ends and spoke about West again.
She was clearly emotional while addressing his tweet, which showed that her emotions
were still raw.
While referring to some of the words that West used in his now-deleted tweet, Curtis
said on Today:
"I woke up and burst into tears.
'Defcon three on Jewish people?'
What are you doing?"
Curtis went on to add:
"It's bad enough that fascism is on the rise around the world.
But on Twitter, on a portal, to pour that in?
As if Jewish people haven't had it hard enough?"
Curtis' paternal grandparents were Hungarian-Jewish and the star said she thought of them after
seeing West's tweet.
Like many famous rappers, people have often approached Kanye West and rapped for him,
hoping they'd score a record deal.
Most times, however, nothing seems to come from the impromptu audition.
But that wasn't the case with Big Sean.
He approached West in 2005 and rapped for him while the "Gold Digger" artist left the
102.7 FM radio station.
By 2007, Sean was signed to his GOOD Music record label.
From outside appearances, the Detroit rapper has remained loyal to West since he hasn't
criticized his polarizing speech.
So Sean was probably shocked when West dissed him in November 2021 on the show Drink Champs.
West said on the show:
"The worst thing I've ever done was sign Big Sean.
I know this man mama, bro.
I changed this man's family."
West went on to say that he didn't appreciate Sean not publicly supporting him when he ran
for president in 2020.
But Sean had his own Drink Champs interview that was released the following month and
responded, saying:
"At first I thought it was hilarious … Then I took it personal.
I'm the only [artist] who put out back to back to back No. 1s, platinum albums, double
platinum albums [on GOOD Music]."
Elsewhere in the chat, Sean claimed that GOOD Music owes him about $6 million, which he
found out after hiring an auditor.
Celebrity news reporter Van Lathan probably won't be palling around with Kanye West anytime soon.
Some might recall Lathan's former job at TMZ and ripping the controversial artist in 2018
when he visited.
It all had to do West's comment about Black people choosing to be slaves in the United
States, which angered and offended many.
But most of those bothered responded on social media.
Not Lathan, though.
He blasted West right there and then.
Lathan said on TMZ:
"I think what you're doing right now is actually the absence of thought.
Frankly, I'm disappointed, I'm appalled and, brother, I am unbelievably hurt by the fact
that you have morphed into something, to me, that's not real."
Now, fast-forward to October 2022, and Lathan claimed that West made more controversial
statements during that same TMZ visit but it was never aired.
The former TMZ reporter spoke about West on the "Higher Learning" podcast after the racist
statements he made about the Jewish community in 2022.
Lathan revealed on the podcast:
"I already heard him say that stuff before.
At TMZ ... He said that stuff and they took it out of the interview ... He said something
like, 'I love Hitler,' 'I love Nazis,' something to that effect."
Lathan then said he didn't agree with the decision to remove that part of West's visit.
At one time Kanye West and John Legend weren't only close musical collaborators, they seemed
like lifelong pals.
But opposing political views and West's 2020 presidential run have all but ruined their relationship.
The first sign of problems came in 2015 when Legend took issue with West saying Beck isn't
a true artist after the rock singer won a Grammy Award.
Then in 2018, after West tweeted support for Donald Trump, the "All of Me" singer texted
him and asked him to reconsider.
But West decided to share their private messages on Twitter before deleting them, something
that Legend probably hated.
Legend spoke about West again in 2020 with UK's The Sunday Times and admitted to not
being all that close to him.
At the time, Legend chalked up their diminishing friendship to regular life stuff, like both
of them raising families.
The singer and pianist had a different take on their relationship in 2022, however, while
speaking on "The Axe Files" podcast.
Legend told the show's host, David Axelrod:
"We aren't friends as much as we used to be because, I honestly think because we publicly
disagreed on his running for office [and] his supporting Trump.
I think it became too much for us to sustain our friendship, honestly."
Are you sensing a pattern here?
That Kanye West has angered many of his former friends and collaborators?
He and John Legend are no longer close, and his relationship with Big Sean has seen better days.
Kid Cudi can also be thrown into that category because he was one of West's buddies and music
partners at one time.
Yes, it's true their relationship has a rocky past.
In 2016, for example, Cudi accused West of using ghostwriters to create his music.
But things would hit rock bottom for the men in 2022 after West slammed Cudi for still
being friends with Pete Davidson when the former SNL cast member was dating West's estranged
wife Kim Kardashian.
Afterward, Cudi let it be known that rapper Pusha T's song "Rock n Roll" would be the
last time people would hear him on a song with West.
Cudi tweeted:
"So I know some of you heard about the song I got w Pusha.
I did this song a year ago when I was still cool w Kanye.
I am not cool w that man.
He's not my friend and I only cleared the song for Pusha cuz that's my guy.
This is the last song u will hear me on w Kanye."
The word "troubled" wouldn't even begin to explain the ups and downs between these two.
Surely, whoever dates Kim Kardashian knows they'll have to put up with paparazzi and
a ton of public scrutiny.
But Pete Davidson, who dated her for nine months before they parted ways in 2022, had
to also deal with Kanye West.
That's because the rapper didn't take the news of him being with Kardashian well at all.
It was clear based on the words he used in rapper The Game's song "Eazy," where he threatened
to beat up Davidson.
There were two videos for the cut as well.
One, which was in claymation, showed a Davidson character being kidnapped and buried alive
by West.
The second showed a skinless and very angry monkey beating the comedian to a pulp.
Of course, West used social media to blast Davidson on top of that, sharing memes, including
a Captain America: Civil War post that had Davidson's face on it.
West's messages about Davidson got so intense at one point, the comedian hired security.
Mainly, this was because he was concerned about West's fans harming him.
Now, Davidson never said that he can't stand the Grammy award winner but one doesn't have
to have mind-reading skills to figure that one out.
"Like Kanye is a genius, but like a musical genius, you know.
Like Joey Chestnut is a hot dog eating genius."
Kanye West introduced his "Yeezy Season 9" collection during Paris Fashion Week in October
2022 but there was very little talk about most of the designs.
One piece, however, got a lot of attention.
It was a shirt that read "White Lives Matter," a phrase The Anti-Defamation League says was
originated by white supremacists "in early 2015 as a racist response to the Black Lives
Matter movement."
West was immediately criticized for wearing the shirt by people like the mother of Ahmaud
Arbery, the 25-year-old Black man who was killed by father and son, Gregory and Travis
McMichael, both white men, while jogging in Glynn County, Georgia.
Another person who came down on West was Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill, who said he used to be a
big fan.
Mill wrote on his Instagram stories:
"I used to listen to ye every night and jail for motivation on god!
It hurts my heart to even know some of y'all this crazy and lame ... What you be doing
for fame [is] driving you crazy."
West later responded to Mill on his now-removed Drink Champs interview by implying he was
working with the feds of all things, while also calling him a fake tough guy.
On top of that, Mill probably didn't forget that West accused him of bedding Kim Kardashian
in 2020 while the former couple was still together.
New York rapper Talib Kweli is another artist who had a friendship with Kanye West before
things went south.
Besides being chums, West can be credited with giving Kweli a hit single, "Get By,"
which West produced.
But cracks started to show in their relationship after West began showing his love for Donald
Trump in 2016, something that Kweli criticized on Twitter before his account was suspended.
Two years later, Kweli told Esquire that he didn't like that West was palling around with
Candace Owens.
Kweli explained:
"When Candace Owens came after me and I dismissed her, I was attacked on Twitter by racist Candace
Owens fans.
When Kanye said, 'I like how Candace Owens thinks,' I texted him and explained to him
who she was and how she comes after his friends.
And his response to me was, 'You know I love Donald Trump.'"
But the biggest proof that West and Kweli's relationship changed came in West's 2021 Drink
Champs interview where he ripped Kweli for criticizing his Trump support.
West exclaimed in the interview:
"Now if you take the average 99 percent of people, say, 'Do you wanna be Kweli, or do
you wanna be Ye,' more people gonna want to be Ye!"
Kweli took the insult in stride, though, and told Drink Champs he was contacted so much
about it, it felt like he had a new successful album released again.