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Kanye West surprises Hollywood Walk of Fame crowd in bizarre mask outfit after photographer altercation-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro
The rapper was supporting Charlie Wilson as he received his star.
![Kanye West surprises Hollywood Walk of Fame crowd in bizarre mask outfit after photographer altercation-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/SEI_189287777-890d.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024)
Rapper Kanye West supported pal Charlie Wilson at his Walk of Fame ceremony (Picture: Getty)
Kanye West opted to wear one of his bizarre full-face black masks during a surprise appearance at a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony.
The rapper, 46, rocked up to the event honouring R&B icon Charlie Wilson in dark jeans, black boots, a black leather bomber jacket and black latex gloves.
He topped this off with a spandex mask covering his entire face, which he also wore while posing for photos with There Goes My Baby singer Charlie, 71, and musician Babyface, 64.
We assume they were confident in it being the real Kanye, given that the chart-topper has appeared in public like this before.
Charlie, who was receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – where he once slept as a homeless man – was dressed in a slightly more expected silver brocade blazer and dark trousers, while Babyface went for a navy suit and polo-neck.
The 13-time Grammy nominee was lead singer of The Gap Band for a decade, earning acclaim for hits including You Dropped a Bomb on Me and Early in the Morning.
He attended the event in his unusual (but made before) choice of a spandex black mask (Picture: Getty)
He also chatted with Babyface (Picture: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock)
Ye appeared shortly after a furious altercation with a photographer on his way in (Picture: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock)
After finding fame with the group, Charlie was left homeless and struggling with addiction on the streets of Hollywood until he ended up in a rehabilitation centre where he met his wife – a counsellor at the facility.
He later achieved a comeback as a solo artist.
Kanye, also known as Ye, putting his best foot forward on the red carpet came shortly after a furious reaction to a photographer questioning him about his wife.
He and Yeezy architect Bianca, 29, have generated plenty of headlines in recent months, ranging from wild outfits to more serious allegations of ‘controlling’ within the relationship.
Posting a series of near-naked shots of Bianca on Instagram, while he himself remained fully clothed, sparked concern among fans, while friends of hers are reported to be worried about her.
He was questioned over wife Bianca Censori and if she had ‘free will’, after a series of naked photos of her he’s posted (Picture: Instagram/@kanyewest)
When a photographer thought to be with outlet TMZ approached Kanye on the street ahead of the Walk of Fame event and asked bluntly if she ‘has free will’, the Jesus Walks rapper snatched her phone from her hand.
‘Why do you feel like it’s OK, I’m a human being?’ he asked, criticising her line of questioning.
In a three-minute explicit rant, Kanye then angrily demanded to know why the photographer wasn’t asking questions about his visitation rights to his children and instead asking ‘some dumb-a** disrespectful questions about my wife’.
‘You think because you’re a white woman you can walk up on me like that and ask me some dumbass s*** like that? Ask me about my wife, talking about if she’s got free will,’ the All of the Lights artist complained.
The couple has grabbed headlines since they got together (Picture: Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
‘Are you crazy? Are you insane? This is America. Have you got free will, or do you work for the devil?
‘I’m a legend, do you understand that? I’m here to support Charlie Wilson, and you come ask me some dumbass s*** about my wife. That’s my wife.’
He then demanded to know her name and address, and claimed he would pay her ‘double’ to work for him instead, referring to himself as a ‘superhero’, before he returned the woman’s phone.
It comes amid widespread speculation about his relationship with Bianca, following his divorce from reality star Kim Kardashian in 2022.
Charlie Wilson celebrated 29 years of sobriety – and his birthday – during Monday’s ceremony, and praised his wife Mahin, who he described as his ‘rock, inspiration and guiding light’, as well as rapper Snoop Dogg for helping him get back on his feet.
Kanye also caught up with Tyler, the Creator at the Walk of Fame (Picture: Getty)
‘To my Snoop, my nephew, you and your family mean the world to me,’ Charlie said.
‘You’re a man of your word and have been instrumental to my comeback in music. You always done everything you could do to elevate me… when some people would say no, you would make them say yes. What did you do to them, man?’ he joked.
The singer landed his solo first hit, Beautiful, in collaboration with Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams in 2003, which won him a Grammy nomination, and his first solo album, Charlie, Last Name Wilson, was released two years later.
Snoop Dogg, 52, said that the musician ‘mean[t] the world to me, not just musically but personally, especially in terms of me and my wife’.
‘There were certain phases in my life where I felt like I should be by myself, I should do this alone, and Charlie was the only one man enough to pull me to the side and let me know… to get back home, you’ve got the greatest woman in the world, you’ve got a family.
Snoop Dog paid tribute to Charlie (Picture: Getty)
The singer has had solo success after being the lead vocalist for The Gap Band (Picture: Getty)
Ye posed for the traditional photo by the star with Charlie (Picture: Getty)
‘He showed me, he taught me, not just by saying it but by showing me, so I appreciate you for showing me family values.’
Happy singer Pharrell also sent a video message in which he thanked his friend and collaborator ‘for continuously inspiring us song after song’.
‘It’s incredible what you’re able to do, you’re still crushing it,’ he added.
Charlie, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, has been an advocate for the Prostate Cancer Foundation, having lived cancer free for 16 years through early detection and treatment.
He has performed in two Stand Up To Cancer telethons and documented his experiences in his 2015 autobiography I Am Charlie Wilson.
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