Rapper and fashion mogul Kanye West — who is up for five 2022 Grammy Awards — has been banned from performing at this year’s Grammys due to his “concerning online behavior.”
A representative for West cited a recent report by the Blast claiming that the rapper’s team received a phone call Friday night informing him he had been “unfortunately” removed from the lineup of performers for the show due to his “concerning online behavior.”
“This is confirmed,” the representative told Variety. The Blast report also notes, “Our sources say Kanye’s team isn’t surprised by the decision.”
The team likely isn’t surprised due to West’s behavior on social media over the last few months, in which the rapper has been lambasting his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s new boyfriend, comedian and Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson, among others.
Last month, West took to social media to mock “dickhead” Davidson for getting a tattoo of Hillary Clinton, proclaiming, “LOOK AT THIS DICKHEAD I WONDER IF INSTAGRAM GONNA SHUT DOWN MY PAGE FOR DISSING HILARY CLINTON’S EX BOYFRIEND.”
Earlier this month, the rapper took his feud with his ex-wife and Davidson to a whole new level with the release of a music video in which West buried a claymation doppelganger of the Saturday Night Live star alive.
According to The Blast, sources say the decision to ban West from performing was made, in part, due to Daily Show host Trevor Noah hosting this year’s Grammys, which has caused some worry about how the who men might interact during the show.
On Thursday, Instagram suspended West for 24 hours after he issued a racial slur at Noah over the comedian’s criticism of his treatment of Kardashian and Davidson.
On Saturday, rapper The Game — who collaborated with West on the recent single and Davidson-burring music video — wrote in an Instagram post, “Time & time again they show us that they only want to STEAL the culture, not allow you to ever be their equals.”
“In a more than obvious move for reasons of minuscule actions…. The Grammys have at the last minute decided to pull [Kanye West] from performing on the show as if we didn’t know it was coming,” the rapper added.
The Game continued:
Could be because [Trevor Noah] is hosting and there was a conversation held amongst his team & the academy that led to the decision or because Ye’s account was suspended just days ago for reasons unknown especially in a world where all the negativities of the world can be found on the same app with no repercussions or suspensions…. We’ll just say it’s all of the above & a continuous disrespect for us & all that we have brought to the table in entertainment, media & sports over the last 100 years especially.
“Speak your mind in this country for yourself, family or your people & you’re ostracized immediately & if you push them hard enough they will stop at no ends to try and put an end to you as a whole…. I for one, have never been scared to speak my mind even understanding what the consequences may be,” he added.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.