The word controversial doesn’t feel like it does enough justice to describe Kanye West. West has seemed to make it his mission to make audiences and fans uncomfortable ever since he stepped into the limelight. In part, this is due to his tactless outlook on life that he described in Love Everybody, a documentary that recently leaked detailing his activity from 2018-2020.
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“Thinking is a series of other people’s thoughts and you making other people happy to what they believe something is. It’s not what you really feel,” he said at the 17:30 mark of the doc. “So, I’ve been able to take that feeling and package it [into] rap, take that feeling and put it inside a sneaker, take that feeling and put it inside a performance, take that feeling and put it inside a relationship… It’s all a mentality.”
This mindset has gotten West into some sticky situations. In his case, it doesn’t even feel like “actions speak louder than words” applies to him. His words carry that much weight. Proving this, we’ve ranked West’s five most controversial moments below, all of which stem from out-of-pocket comments he’s made.
5. Kim Kardashian/Pete Davidson
In 2021, Kanye West was going through an incredibly public divorce from his megastar wife Kim Kardashian. This was around the same time he was rolling out his most recent solo album Donda.
This all came to a head at one of the listening parties he held for the album, all of which took place in massive stadiums. At one point he reenacted his wedding night with Kardashian, having a woman in a white gown take center stage while he theatrically lit himself on fire.
Not much changed for their divorce proceedings following this, however. Kardashian soon began dating comedian Pete Davidson, who was once a close friend of West’s. West didn’t give up, though.
At his December 2021 “Free Larry Hoover” concert with Drake in Los Angeles, West made a plea to Kardashian to reunite with him, ending his rendition of his classic hit “Runaway” by singing: I need you to run right back to me, more specifically, Kimberly.
Kardashian’s relationship with Davidson persisted, causing West to virtually attack both of them via Instagram. Referring to Davidson as “SKETE,” West urged his fans and followers to harass his ex-wife’s boyfriend. This (mostly) one-sided rivalry lasted from fall 2021 to fall 2022.
4. Donald Trump
By now, Kanye West’s vocal support of 45th President Donald Trump is common knowledge in the U.S. But, what some don’t know is that he first made this stance public back in 2016 on the Life of Pablo Tour.
“I told y’all I didn’t vote, right? … If I would’ve voted, I would’ve voted on Trump,” he told the crowd at one of his shows. “That don’t mean that I don’t think that black lives matter. That don’t mean that I don’t believe in women’s rights. That don’t mean that I don’t believe in gay marriage. That don’t mean that I don’t believe in those things because that was the guy that I would’ve voted for.”
In the years following this, West only revved up his love for the contentious politician. Whether it was wearing Make America Great Again hats religiously or visiting the White House on multiple occasions, West stayed ten toes down on the Trump train.
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3. George Bush
One of West’s first public blunders came in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina devastation in Louisiana. During an NBC fundraiser dubbed A Concert for Hurricane Relief, hosted by actor Mike Myers, West blurted out his thoughts about then-president George Bush.
“George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” he said.
The moment left an awkward air on the broadcast and soon became a moment West fans fondly revisit.
2. Antisemitism
In what felt like a heel-turn politically from his advocacy above, West’s fall 2022 saw him not only design “White Lives Matter” T-shirts for his Yeezy clothing line but also saw him spew antisemitic comments multiple times. This led to many of his brand partners like Gap and Adidas ending their relationships with him, along with many of his industry peers.
The rapper still hasn’t fully recovered from this and is facing several lawsuits in relation to the turmoil.
1. Taylor Swift
For a moment in time from the late 2000s to the early 2010s, you couldn’t mention Kanye West without bringing up Taylor Swift. And vice versa. This was because of the moment heard around the world at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
During Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for winning the Best Female Video award, West stormed onto the stage and ranted about how Beyoncé was more deserving of the trophy. This caused mass hysteria from fans and media, ultimately souring public opinion of West.
Throughout the years, West and Swift’s relationship was up and down, as they fluctuated from being close friends to bitter rivals. In 2016, when West released his album The Life of Pablo, he included the song “Famous” as a subtle slight to Swift, rapping I made that b*tch famous.
For the song’s visuals, he alluded to Swift again, but in a much more bizarre way. With naked wax figures, he depicted himself in bed with notable enemies and pals such as Swift, Trump, Rihanna, and more. However, in a Vanity Fair report published soon after, it was revealed that West did not make the visuals “in support or [against] any of [the people in the video],” but more so as “a comment on fame.”
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