Trevor Noah believes in consequences, but also in conversation. On Sunday (March 20), the Daily Show host came to the defense of Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), arguing that the rapper should not be summarily written off without some dialogue because of his recent online activity.
“I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye,” Noah tweeted over the weekend.
The pointed comment seemingly came in response to confirmation from Ye’s camp that an unannounced performance at the upcoming 2022 Grammy Awards had been pulled due to the rapper’s recent “concerning online behavior.” According to reports, West’s team received a call on Friday evening notifying him that he was scrapped from the upcoming April 3 awards show, where Ye is nominated five times, including for album of the year for Donda. Kanye was not among the first round of artists announced to perform by the Recording Academy ahead of the event.
At press time, a rep for West declined to confirm whether he was still attending or invited to the show taking place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Noah is hosting this year’s show, and an unnamed source close to the comedian told CNN that Trevor had nothing do do with West being disinvited.
West was temporarily suspended from Instagram on March 16 after he published a post featuring a slur that targeted The Daily Show host. During the 24-hour suspension, the Grammy-winning musician was unable to post, comment or send DMs. In Ye’s post, since deleted by Instagram, lyrics to “Kumbaya” were replaced with a variation of a racial epithet based on a minstrel character.
West used the slur in response to a Tuesday segment of The Daily Show, in which Noah addressed the rapper’s online fixation on and harassment of both his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her current boyfriend, Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson, calling it “terrifying to watch.” Before West’s post was removed, Noah responded, telling the rapper that his behavior “broke” the host’s heart and that Ye should “know the difference between that and fighting your family.”
“If you’re just joking about it all and I’m an idiot for caring, then so be it. But I’d rather be the idiot who spoke up,” Noah concluded his comment.
I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye.
— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) March 20, 2022
