*John Legend says he and Kanye West are not as close as they once were due to the rapper’s support of former President Donald Trump and Ye’s own 2020 White House bid.
“Well, you know, we aren’t friends as much as we used to be because I honestly think because we publicly disagreed on his running for office, his supporting [President Donald] Trump,” Legend revealed during a recent appearance on CNN’s The Axe Files podcast with David Axelrod. “I think it became too much for us to sustain our friendship, honestly.”
The rapper announced on the 4th of July holiday back in 2020 that he was running for president as an independent. At the time, Ye told Forbes that he was not running as a Democrat or a Republican, but under the “Birthday Party” because “when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday.”
Kanye also claimed he’s been “threatened” over his political views.
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“Democrats used to tell me, the same Democrats have threatened me…. The reason why this is the first day I registered to vote is because I was scared. I was told that if I voted on Trump my music career would be over. I was threatened into being in one party. I was threatened as a celebrity into being in one party. I was threatened as a Black man into the Democratic party. And that’s what the Democrats are doing, emotionally, to my people. Threatening them to the point where this white man can tell a Black man if you don’t vote for me, you’re not Black.”
Legend said he refused to support Kanye’s 2020 campaign.
“I wasn’t alone in that, but, you know, he was not happy about that,” he said. “And we really haven’t been close since then.”
Legend went on to note that “there’s not a lot about him that people don’t get.”
“I think he’s been very open with who he is and his struggles with mental health. And he’s very real, honestly …” he explained. “Like he’s been pretty upfront with his opinions, his struggles, all the things that he’s dealing with. And I think what you see with him is pretty much what you get. I don’t feel like he’s a whole separate person in private than he is in public. I think you’re pretty much seeing the real Kanye publicly.”
You can listen to Legend’s full interview with Axelrod below.
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