In an interview with British newspaper The Times, musician John Legend spoke about the "sad" downfall of his former friend Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.
For years, Legend and Ye shared a close bond—both professionally and personally—as did their wives, Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen. But their friendship began to strain around 2016 when Ye publicly endorsed Donald Trump.
Ye, who has generated significant controversy recently for selling T-shirts bearing swastikas on his website, has indeed gone downhill in the last few years.
Ye received backlash in 2022 after White Lives Matter shirts—including ones worn by Ye and Candace Owens—were unveiled during his YZY Paris Fashion Week show. As a result, Ye went on several misogynoir and antisemitic rants and was accused of anti-Blackness by community activists.
Instagram locked Ye out of his account after he posted an antisemitic conspiracy theory in screenshots of text messages with Sean "Diddy" Combs.
In response, Ye returned to Twitter after a long hiatus to accuse Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of personally locking him out of his account after Instagram announced it locked him out for posts that violated its policies. Ye also tweeted he'd go "death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE," prompting media attention and further accusations of antisemitism.
He returned to Instagram later, shortly after he was escorted out of the Sketchers headquarters, to announce that he'd lost $2 billion in one day. Earlier, Adidas announced it was ending its $1.5 billion deal with Ye. Additionally, TJX Companies, which owns department stores and TJ Maxx, and Gap said they would no longer sell Ye's apparel.
Legend said “it does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where [West] is now," adding:
“Back then Kanye was very passionate, very gifted, and he had big dreams not only for himself but also for all the people around him. He had so much optimism, so much creativity."
"I didn’t see a hint of what we’re seeing now, his obsessions with antisemitism, anti-Blackness, and it is sad to see his devolution.”
Legend also reflected on changes he observed in Ye over the years, noting that while he doesn’t “think we’re qualified to psychoanalyze him,” he did notice a “difference” in the rapper following the death of his mother in 2007. “His descent started then and seems to have accelerated recently,” Legend said.
Many agreed with his assessment.
Legend has made it clear that he is no fan of Trump and spoken about how Ye's support for Trump contributed to the demise of their relationship.
In 2018, Ye posted a now-infamous screenshot of a private text exchange between them, where Legend urged him to “reconsider aligning” himself with Trump.
In the message, Legend warned, “You’re way too powerful and influential to endorse who he is and what he stands for,” adding that “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 color.” He ended the note by pleading, “Don’t let this be part of your legacy.”
Legend later said Ye "was very upset with me" after Legend declined to support his longshot presidential campaign.
Legend said "the most frustrating thing about his run for the presidency for me was how much it was an operation run by the Trump campaign. He said "I saw their work on his behalf as a clear scam and an operation to try to siphon Black votes away from Biden, so there was no way I was going to support it."
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