Kanye West has responded to a jab from Shaquille O’Neal while also hitting out at Taylor Swift’s fans.
O’Neal took a swipe at West on Instagram earlier this week, commenting on one of his posts: “Who cares stop bitchin and snitchin. i kno u saw me at the Super Bowl i was waiting for u to say something smart. man up. nobody wanna see u cryin man up lil boy.”
Kanye issued a retort to the NBA legend in a lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday (February 14) where he addressed a number of issues.
Ye said of Shaq: “OH AND TO SHAQ I GREW UP LOOKING UP TO YOU I WOULD LOVE TO HANG WITH YOU AND JAMIE SOMETIME JAIMIE SALTER IS LIKE A FATHER FIGURE TO ME,” referring to the former Laker’s business partner.
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Kanye West also responded to a tweet from a Taylor Swift fan urging others to stream Beyoncé’s new single “Texas Hold ‘Em” to prevent Ye’s “Carnival” from topping the Billboard Hot 100.
Addressing the fan’s claim that he “dragged” Swift on his latest album Vultures 1 as well as on social media, he wrote: “WHEN I SAID THAT I’M THE NEW JESUS BITCH I WASN’T EVEN THINKING ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT. THAT WAS A WHOLE LINE BEFORE BUT I APPRECIATE THE FREE PROMO.”
He then addressed his tumultuous relationship with the singer, saying positive things about her: “REMEMBER I WAS ON TAYLOR’S SIDE WHEN SCOOTER BOUGHT HER MASTERS BEHIND HER BACK. SHE AND BEYONCÉ ARE BIG INSPIRATIONS TO ALL MUSICIANS WE ALWAYS SAY HOW BOTH SELL OUT TOURS AND MOVIES.”
However, Kanye did appear to take issue with her fans: “TO ALL TAYLOR SWIFT FANS I AM NOT YOUR ENEMY UUUM IM NOT YOUR FRIEND EITHER THOUGH LOL.”
The rapper also denied that he was removed from the Super Bowl because of Taylor Swift: “ALSO I DIDN’T GET KICKED OUT OF THE SUPER BOWL WE LEFT OUR SEATS TO GO TO YG’S BOX AND SEE DIFFERENT FRIENDS. MY WIFE HAD NEVER BEEN TO A SUPER BOWL SO I WANTED TO WALK AROUND AND HAVE A NICE TIME WE HAD SUCH A FUN DAY.”
It was originally claimed by former NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall that Swift had West kicked out of the Super Bowl stadium.
“Kanye West pulls up to Vegas. Kanye West buys a ticket to right in front of [Taylor Swift’s] booth, so any time they were going to be showing [Taylor Swift], Kanye’s face was going to be there,” the former Denver Bronco said on the Paper Route podcast.
“Taylor Swift gets pissed off, she boom, boom makes a call or two. Everybody’s involved. He gets kicked out the stadium! He was trying to leverage her celebrity … That’s what he tried to do; he tried to sit in front of Taylor Swift.”
A rep for Kanye later denied Marshall’s claims, telling HipHopDX: “This is a completely fabricated story. It’s not true.”
Elsewhere in his Instagram post, the Chicago native spoke about the reception to Vultures 1 and confirmed that Lil Wayne will appear on the first of its two sequels, which is set to be released on March 8.
“LIL WAYNE ACTUALLY MENTIONS TRAVIS KELSEY ON VULTURES 2,” he said, referring to Taylor Swift’s NFL star boyfriend. “THIS ALBUM IS ACTUALLY SUPER POSITIVE AND FUN IT’S ALL ABOUT TRIUMPHANT.
“LAST YEAR WAS INCREDIBLY CHALLENGING FOR ME, MY WIFE, MY CHILDREN, FRIENDS AND FAMILY. I’VE BEEN BANNED FROM HOTELS, KICKED OUT OF COMPANIES, AND EVEN NOT ALLOWED TO EAT IN SOME RESTAURANTS.
“EVERYONE SAW VULTURES 1 GET TAKEN OFF OF PLATFORMS TO LIMIT OUR FIRST WEEK NUMBERS. THIS REMINDS ME OF THE MISTREATMENT OF MY PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF OUR SKIN.”
