Kanye West backed the “White Lives Matter” slogan he wore on a t-shirt during his surprise Yeezy show in Paris on Monday.
Rapper Donda, 45, posted a photo of the long-sleeved black shirt on his Instagram on Wednesday with the caption: “Here’s my last response when people ask me why I made a t-shirt that says lives white matter…THEY DO.”
Meanwhile, one of the only celebrity friends to come to the defense of Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband right now is Sean “Diddy” Combs, who called the musician a “free thinker” and said his post had been “misinterpreted”.
‘They do’: Kanye West doubled down on his ‘White Lives Matter’ slogan on Wednesday and explained that when people ask why he made the shirt, he says it’s because ‘They do’
Diddy, 52, said ‘My boy is a super, super, super free thinker’ in an interview on ‘The Breakfast Club on Wednesdy’.
“And often what he means to say is, like, misinterpreted, you know what I mean?” added the case manager.
When host Charlamagne, 44, chimed in to say: ‘You gotta stop making excuses for him’, he replied: ‘No, no, I’m not looking for excuses, I’m just saying if he l ‘did, that’s how he thinks.’
Shocking fans: Ye, 45, wore the ‘White Lives Matter’ design for the first time at his surprise Yeezy show in Paris on Monday
Free thinker: One of the only celebrity friends to come to the defense of Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband is Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who called the musician a ‘free thinker’ and said his post was ‘wrong interpreter”.
The rapper also said that people “don’t have to condemn Kanye or cancel it”, but that he understands that the shirts are “very tone deaf”.
“I get that white lives matter, but that’s not it,” Diddy continued.
‘[Black Lives Matter] was our slogan. It was not our slogan to go and share with no one else… Because right now it is we who are dying, who are incarcerated, who are left in poverty.
On defence: Diddy, 52, said ‘My boy is a super, super, super free thinker’ in an interview on ‘The Breakfast Club on Wednesdy
Misinterpreted: “And often what he means to say is, like, misinterpreted, you know what I’m saying?” the case manager added, but noted that the shirts are “very deaf”
“You have to be shamelessly black and love your people and love your tribe first,” he added.
Diddy also revealed that he previously planned to release his own T-shirt in support of West, but now'[needs] a few days to overcome the ‘White Lives Matter’ design.
Kanye also took to Instagram later to troll Justin Bieber’s wife Hailey, 25, after she defended Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson for criticizing her White Lives Matter shirts.
West shared a screenshot of his Google results with an E! News article about Bieber’s support for Karefa-Johnson.
Your tribe: ‘You have to be shameless black and love your people and love your tribe first,’ he added
‘Wait am I canceled again??? Justin please let me know,’ he captioned the Instagram post.
He also shared a screenshot of a Dailymail.com article where Professor Tatishe M. Nteta said West was “not alone” in his skepticism of the Black Lives Matter movement.
He continued his posting spree, sharing a screenshot from Hollywood Unlocked detailing Diddy’s support for him. “God is love,” he captioned the post.
In another post, he praised DailyMail.com for being “really fair and positive”.
He added: “GOD IS GOOD I’M USED TO ATTACKS FROM HOLLYWOOD ACTORS SO TO GET SUPPORT TO STAND MY GROUND IS AMAZING WE BROKEN MIND CONTROL NO ONE IS DRUNK FROM TRAUMA MORE GOD DON’T FIGHT THIS BATTLE FOR US.”
Trolling: Kanye also took to Instagram later to troll Justin Bieber’s wife Hailey, 25, after she defended Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson for criticizing her White Lives Matter shirts
Not alone: He also shared a screenshot of a Dailymail.com article where Professor Tatishe M. Nteta said West was “not alone” in his skepticism of the Black Lives Matter movement
Ye shocked fans on Monday when he debuted the design, and even had models in the show wearing the clothes with the message written on them, a response to the Black Lives Matter movement which was founded in 2013 at the following the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmermann.
The front of West’s “White Lives Matter” shirt appeared to show a photo collage of Pope Saint John Paul II, with the bottom caption referring to him in Spanish as “Juan Pablo II.”
Also posing with West was right-wing commentator Candace Owens, who wore a complimentary version of the shirt, and Kanye’s daughter North West, nine.
Among those who modeled West’s new design in Paris was Bob Marley’s granddaughter, Selah Marley. Selah is the daughter of Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley.
Palling around: Also posing with West was right-wing commentator Candace Owens, who beamed while wearing a complementary version of the ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt
Bob Marley’s granddaughter was also among those who modeled West’s new design in Paris
This is not the first time Ye has stirred up controversy around race, having said in 2018 that he believed 400 years of slavery “was a choice”.
Kanye has aligned himself with right-wing figures such as Owens, as well as former President Donald Trump, regularly sporting a Make America Great Again baseball cap in public.
During a May 2018 interview regarding his support for Trump, West said, “Racism is not the deciding factor for me.” If that was the case, I wouldn’t be living in America.
Juxtaposition: The front of West’s ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt appeared to show a collage of Pope Saint John Paul II with the bottom caption referring to him in Spanish as ‘Juan Pablo II’
It was a hectic Wednesday for Kanye, who earlier in the day accused the Kardashian family of “essentially kidnapping” his daughter Chicago on her birthday, as he continued to claim ex-wife Kim Kardashian had prevented him from seeing their children.
The accusation came as Khloe Kardashian issued a public call for the rapper to stop ‘tearing down’ his sister, after Kanye dredged up his family dispute amid the ongoing controversy over his t-shirt ‘White Lives Matter’.
Kim, 41, – who is co-parent to North, nine, Saint, six, Chicago, four, and Psalm, three, with the rapper – has previously denied her claim that she hosted a secret birthday party for their daughter Chicago in January this year, after he alleged the reality star refused to tell him where he was.
Fightback: It was a turbulent Wednesday for Kanye, who publicly argued with his former sister-in-law Khloe Kardashian, 38, earlier today as tensions flared over his continued claims about his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and Their Children
Moving forward: Kanye hit back on his Instagram page, calling the Kardashians ‘liars’ and accusing them of ‘essentially kidnapping CHICAGO on his birthday’
“AND FOR ALL THE AUDIENCE SO OUTRAGED AT MY T-SHIRT,” Kanye, 43, wrote in his latest Instagram rant, adding, “WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I CANNOT SEE MY KIDS.”
In response, Khloe, 38, pleaded with him to “STOP tearing down Kimberly and using our family when you want to deviate”, and insisted that he “Leave her and the family out of this so that children can be brought up in peace.
Kanye fired back on his Instagram page, calling the Kardashians “liars” and accusing them of “basically kidnapping Chicago on her birthday so she could remember her dad wasn’t there.”
Family matters: Kanye and Kim, who married in Florence in 2014, share four children – North, nine, Saint, six, Chicago, four and Psalm, three