On Sept. 29 Kanye West was on Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a guest and drama ensued. It all started when the show ended and the feed from SNL was off the air. Kanye then took this time to go on a small yet captivating rant about his ‘Make America Great Again’ hat and how the cast and crew of ‘SNL’ “bullied” him to not wear the hat out on stage.
It has been well known for months now that Kanye West is a supporter and somewhat friend of Donald Trump. West even stated in his ‘SNL’ rant, “If someone inspires me and I connect with them, I don’t have to believe in all their policies.” He continued with, “They bullied me backstage. They said ‘don’t go out there with that hat on.’” (Inside Edition)
West is a public figure for a multitude of reasons. He inspires, creates, entertains and, like most celebrities, is an important part of the lives of many. West deserves every bit of respect for his success in the entertainment world and beyond. Kanye is an intelligently creative mind that has worked hard to achieve what he has.
However, West is a celebrity with a voice. Not too long ago during the 2016 presidential race, conservatives were upset with celebrities voicing their political opinions which were usually pro-Clinton. It is interesting how now all of a sudden it is okay for celebrities, specifically the pro-Trump West, to voice their political opinions on public stages.
Beyond that small and hypocritical contradiction, West has a history of seeking as much attention as possible in every situation he can. From calling slavery a “choice” on TMZ (TMZ) to taking the microphone away from Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at the VMAs, to boldly announcing that, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” on national television. West always has to be the center of attention.
In addition to his rant on ‘SNL’ West’s comments about the 13th amendment are just bizarre and another grab for attention. With a photo of him wearing his infamous “Make America Great Again” hat which has been a key symbol to the Trump campaign and presidency, Kanye tweeted on Sunday, “this represents good and America becoming whole again. We will no longer outsource to other countries. We build factories here in America and create jobs. We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th amendment. Message sent with love.”
Kanye once again uses his social influence to become the talking point.
Kanye will do whatever he has to do at the moment to ensure that he is the center of attention. If that means putting on a MAGA hat while performing on SNL and then following the show with a nonsensical lecture directed at the live studio audience about how he was “bullied backstage” for wearing the hat, then he’ll do it.
Kanye may very much be a supporter of Donald Trump and he may have conservative political views but there is nothing wrong with that as we all have our views, values and opinions. The problem comes when Kanye starts using his fame and appearance in order to spread a message in the most inappropriate manner and setting possible, and clearly, from past Kanye-esque moments, he has a history of abruptly shouting out his messages with no filter attached. He is not some kind of genius who is seeing something we aren’t. He’s just an attention seeker being loud and abrupt for his own image.