‘The idea of me wearing it was funny’: Kanye West defends his ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt
Kanye West, now Ye, created a stir (once again!) wearing a controversial t-shirt with the slogan ‘White Lives Matter’ at his Yeezy fashion show at the recently-concluded Paris Fashion Week. The t-shirt also featured a photo of Pope John Paul II on the front. Not just him, similar shirts were also worn models on the ramp apart from Candace Owens, an American conservative influencer and activ.
In a now-deleted Instagram story, the American rapper also discredited the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement as a ‘scam’ and wrote, “Everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam. Now it’s over. You’re welcome.”
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— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 3, 2022
Notably, the phrase ‘White Lives Matter’ has been classified as a “white supremac phrase” the Anti-Defamation League. As such, upon seeing the shirt, several attendees, including Jaden Smith, walked out of the show with Vogue editor Gabriella-Karefa Johnson calling the designs “deeply offensive, violent and dangerous”.
Now, in a new interview with Tucker Carlson, West defended his t-shirt and said, “They’re looking for an explanation — as an art, you don’t have to give an explanation, but as a leader, you do. So the answer to why I wrote ‘White Lives Matter’ on a shirt is: They do. It’s an obvious thing.”
Talking about his creative choice, he added, “I do certain things from a feeling, I just channel the energy. It just feels right. It’s using a gut instinct, a connection with God, and just brilliance.”
“You know, my dad is an educated ex-Black Panther, and he put in a text to me today, he said, ‘White Lives Matter. Ha ha ha ha ha,’” he said, recounting his father Ray West’s reaction to the t-shirt. “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.’”
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