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After Kanye West launched an ongoing series of tweets about his admiration of Donald Trump and conservative figures like Candace Owens, John Legend reached out to him directly via text — and ended up becoming the subject of yet another Kanye tweet for his trouble.
“I hope you’ll reconsider aligning yourself with Trump,” he wrote. “You’re way too powerful and influential to endorse who he is and what he stands for. As you know, what you say really means something to your fans ... so many people who love you feel so betrayed right now because they know the harm that Trump’s policies cause. Don’t let this be part of your legacy.”
And even though Legend ended with the kind of compliment Kanye loves — “you’re the greatest artist of our generation” — West replied with a friendly but firm refusal, then posted their exchange directly to Twitter.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 26, 2018
This accusation that Legend is manipulating Kanye’s “free thought” falls in line with the rest of Kanye’s recent tweets, which have hinged on the idea that he, an artist and an intellectual, should have the right to admire whomever he likes — even Trump.
That’s true, of course. Kanye absolutely has the right to associate with whomever he wants. But Legend’s point — which he went in depth on in a series of tweets last night — is less about whom Kanye is allowed to admire and more the fact that his support for this president has stung much of Kanye’s fan base for much more personal reasons than he might care to realize.
I imagine there's some comfort in imagining a future without racism and projecting that onto the present. Thinking if we just deny the truth, it doesn't exist. If history is erased, we don't have to deal with its consequences. However...
— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 25, 2018
They know their family was destroyed by deportation or incarceration. They know their loved one was denied safe harbor because of their religion. They know their son or daughter was shot because their skin color evoked fear
— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 25, 2018
Legend’s point is that Kanye might be able to afford indulging in abstract “free thought,” but many people affected by Trump’s actual policies — many people who may overlap with Kanye’s fan base — can’t.
Even though Legend sent those pointed tweets the night before he texted Kanye directly, he was still caught off guard when the texts ended up on Twitter. Or, as Legend’s wife Chrissy Teigen, who is better at Twitter than her husband and Kanye and just about anyone, put it:
Everyone keeps asking me to comment on shit. Comment on psycho Tami Lasagna, whom I refuse to give the joy to, say something about RHOA, speak up about kanye. When it comes to people we know, we DO speak up. To THEM. not on Twitter. And sometimes, I guess it makes it to Twitter.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) April 26, 2018
Though he told Legend he appreciated his thoughts, Kanye posting the text exchange on Twitter with an accusation that Legend was trying to “manipulate” him speaks volumes on how he feels about people trying to rein him in right now — even if it’s a friend. (And even if, as Teigen and Kanye’s wife Kim Kardashian West joked about on Twitter shortly afterward, they all have dinner plans this weekend.)
Still, Kanye and Legend managed to end on something resembling a cordial note, even after Legend sent a follow-up text to emphasize that Kanye’s “words and actions have consequences too” — and that he’d noticed Kanye was posting their private texts on Twitter for millions to see. But Legend managed to turn that negative into a positive, in a wry text that said maybe Kanye could at least mention Legend has a new single out while he’s at it.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 26, 2018
Maybe you’re reading this wondering why the hell you should care about any of this, which, fair. But as Legend pointed out, both he and Kanye (and their respective spouses) have reached the point where they have enormous platforms that allow millions of people to hear what they have to say. Sometimes that can be an amazing thing. Other times it puts a huge burden of responsibility on someone who might not be thinking about what that actually means.
