Kanye West ripped the “godless media” Thursday in an interview in which he said the “White Lives Matter” shirt he wore Monday in a Paris fashion show was “funny.”
On Monday, West drew criticism for the shirt, with critics such as Jemele Hill, who came after him on Twitter.
“So many folks are trying to excuse Kanye wearing a white lives matter t-shirt as just a troll move or marketing. Maybe it is. But it’s a dangerously dumb message to send for someone with his massive platform. I been off dude. But y’all go ahead labeling his foolishness as genius,” she wrote.
West seemed to know it was coming when he told his audience, “Everyone here knows that I am the leader … you can’t manage me. This is an unmanageable situation,” he said, according to the Guardian.
West was interviewed by Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday. In the interview, he framed his life and work as a struggle with the media on the other side.
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“God is preparing us for the real battles. We are in a battle with the media. The majority of the media has a godless agenda,” he said.
Carlson asked about the shirt.
“The answer to why I wrote ‘White Lives Matter’ on a shirt is because they do; it’s the obvious thing,” West responded.
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After explaining why he does not care about the opinions of others, West noted that “I perform for an audience of one, and that’s God.”
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That led to Carlson replying, “’I’m starting to see why they want to make you be quiet.”
During the interview, West said the 2016 presidential campaign of former President Donald Trump was a watershed experience when he refused to condemn Trump.
“My so-called friends/handlers around me told me if I said that I liked Trump that my career would be over. That my life would be over,” he said.
He said wearing a Make America Great Again hat brought him threats.
“They said stuff like, ‘People get killed for wearing a hat like that.’ They threatened my life. They basically said that I would be killed for wearing the hat,” he said.
“I had someone call me last night and said anybody wearing a ‘white lives matter’ shirt is going to be green-lit. That means they are going to beat them up if they wear it. I’m like, you know, ‘OK, green light me then,’” he said.
West touched on faith during the interview.
“God builds warriors in a different way,” he said, adding, “He made me for such a time like this.”
“It’s like with David. He tended to the sheep. But while he was out there, he had to fight all kinds of animals, so when it was time for Goliath, he thought because he was a sheepherder, that he didn’t have the skill set to take down Goliath,” he said.
“But the number one thing is, we have God on our side,” he said. “And even if you don’t believe in God, God believes in you.”
Asked about his “White Lives Matter” shirt, West replied, “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.”
“If you asked Tonya Harding how she did the triple flip or the triple spin, she was in so much practice that when it was time for her to skate in a competitive format, it just happened,” he said, adding, “That’s what’s happening”
“But what I was saying the comparison of Tonya Harding about the White Lives Matter, my dad is an educated ex-Black Panther and he put a text to me today, he said ‘White lives matter, hahahaha.’” he said.
“‘I said, I thought the shirt was a funny shirt. I thought the idea of me wearing it was funny,” West said. “And I said ‘Dad, why do you think it was funny?’ And he said, ‘Just a black man stating the obvious.’”
