Entertainment
Diddy defends ‘misconstrued’ Kanye West amid White Lives Matter controversy but says ‘you have to be unapologetically Black’-Alicia Adejobi-Entertainment – Metro
The music mogul doesn’t agree with Kanye’s sentiments but refuses to ‘cancel’ him.
Diddy has hailed his friend Kanye as a ‘free thinker’ (Picture: Getty Images/instagram)
Diddy has spoken out in defence of his ‘free-thinking’ friend Kanye West after the rapper supported the White Lives Matter slogan, but he doesn’t agree with the sentiment.
Grammy-winning rapper Kanye has sparked outrage after wearing a shirt at his Yeezy SZN9 fashion show with ‘White Lives Matter’ printed on the back. He was joined by controversial political pundit and Donald Trump supporter Candace Owens, who also wore the top alongside Kanye’s Yeezy models.
The rapper, 45, has been criticised from all corners with Jaden Smith walking out of the fashion show, model Gigi Hadid condemning the musician and actress Jodie Turner-Smith branding the move ‘disgusting’.
Kanye has doubled down on his support of the White Lives Matter slogan and even branded Black Lives Matter a ‘scam’.
His good friend Diddy, real name Sean Combs, has now shared his thoughts on the controversy and while he has defended his pal, he’s also made it clear that he supports the BLM movement.
‘Kanye my boy is a super, super, super free thinker and a lot of times, what he means is, like, misconstrued,’ Diddy said in a new interview with Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club on Wednesday.
He continued: ‘I’m not making excuses, I’m just saying if he did it that’s the way he thinks.
I understand white lives do matter, but it’s not that.
‘[Black Lives Matter] was our slogan. That wasn’t our slogan to go share with nobody else. We don’t have to condemn Kanye or cancel him but at the same time you have to understand your actions.’
Diddy, 52, went on to note how African Americans are incarcerated at disproportionate rates and living in poverty.
Kanye and Candace Owens wore matching White Lives Matter shirts (Picture: @realcandaceowens, Instagram)
Kanye debuted the controversial top at his Yeezy fashion show in Paris on Monday (Picture: YEEZY / KANYE WEST)
Diddy reminded Kanye that now is the ‘time to be unapologetically Black ‘ (Picture: Getty Images)
‘It really ain’t no time for no other lives matter but the tribe, you have to be unapologetically Black and love your people and love your tribe first,’ he stated.
‘If you heard something was going on, you would be running to your house first. You would not be going to your neighbour’s house first.
‘We ain’t got no time for no internet ‘White Lives Matter’… we need to be focusing on ourselves. Let them White Lives themselves out.’
Diddy added: ‘It’s not the time for unnecessary noise. Not him or [Candace] Owens.’
A spokesperson for BLM fired back at Kanye’s statement and branded the T-shirt ‘harmful’ to Black families ‘fighting for justice’.
As backlash continued to mount on Wednesday, Kanye shared a photo of one of his White Lives Matter shirts on Instagram with the defiant caption: ‘Here’s my latest response when people ask me why I made a tee that says white lives matter… THEY DO.’
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