Diddy defends Kanye West amid ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt controversy
Sean “Diddy” Combs might be the only celebrity defending Kanye West right now.
The rapper and record exec, 52, shared his thoughts on Ye — and the “White Lives Matter” T-shirts he included in his Yeezy show during Paris Fashion Week — in a new interview on “The Breakfast Club.”
“My boy is a super, super, super free thinker,” Diddy said. “And a lot of times, what he means is, like, misconstrued, you know what I’m saying?”
The media mogul added that people “don’t have to condemn Kanye or cancel him,” but called the shirts “very tone-deaf.”
“I understand white lives do matter, but it’s not that,” Diddy said.
“[‘Black Lives Matter’] was our slogan. That wasn’t our slogan to go share with nobody else … Because right now, we’re the ones that are dying, that are incarcerated, that are left in poverty.”
Continued the superstar, “You have to be unapologetically black and love your people and love your tribe first.”
While Diddy had previously planned to release a T-shirt of his own in support of West, he said he “[needs] a couple of days to get over” his controversial friend’s designs first.
West, 45, staged his surprise runway show in Paris Tuesday. A choir of children — including the designer’s daughter North — provided the soundtrack as Naomi Campbell, Amelia Hamlin and more hit the catwalk.
The “White Lives Matter” shirts infuriated many in the audience (and beyond). Jaden Smith walked out of the show, later tweeting, “I Don’t Care Who’s It Is If I Don’t Feel The Message I’m Out,” among other messages.
West’s ex-sister-in-law Kendall Jenner liked several of Smith’s tweets about leaving the spectacle.
“Hollywood Unlocked” host Jason Lee, who until recently worked as Yeezy’s head of media and partnerships, wrote that his former boss was “gaslighting black people,” while Jodie Turner-Smith blasted the rapper as “fake,” “toxic” and “embarrassing.”
Gigi Hadid also jumped into the fray after West took aim at Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who’d spoken out against the shirts.
“As if the ‘honor’ of being invited to your show should keep someone from giving their opinion..? Lol. You’re a bully and a joke,” Hadid commented on a post West had shared.
As for the “Donda” rapper himself — who called Black Lives Matter “a scam” the day after sending the offensive shirts down his runway — he claims he met with Karefa-Johnson on Tuesday, and that the pair “apologized to each other for the way we made each other feel” and “actually got along.”
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