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Kanye West will not back down.
The 45-year-old rapper joined Tucker Carlson for an interview with Fox News on Thursday night and defended the controversial “White Lives Matter” T-shirts he showed on his Yeezy Season 9 runway during Paris Fashion Week on Monday.
“They’re looking for an explanation — as an artist you don’t have to give an explanation, but as a leader you do,” said West, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021.
“So the answer to why I wrote ‘White Lives Matter’ on a shirt is: They do. This is an obvious thing.
The phrase “White Lives Matter” has been classified as a “white supremacist phrase” by the Anti-Defamation League, and several fashionistas in attendance left Ye’s show after seeing the shirts, including Jaden Smith.
After Vogue editor and stylist Gabriella-Karefa Johnson called the designs “deeply offensive, violent and dangerous,” West publicly mocked her personal style, prompting more industry insiders — including Gigi Hadid and Hailey Baldwin — to jump to her defense and to criticize West.
However, sources told Page Six Style that Yeh was confused by the negative reaction to his collection and thinks it’s a “PC thing.”
In his interview with Carlson, he blamed a “group mob” of “liberal Nazis” for the backlash he received.
“I do some things by feel,” West said. “I’m just channeling the energy, it just feels right. It uses instinct, a connection with God, and just plain brilliance.
Yeh even said his father, a former Black Panther, appreciated the T-shirts.
“I thought the shirt was a funny shirt,” West said. “I thought the idea of wearing it was ridiculous. And I said, “Dad, why do you think it’s funny?” And he said, “Just a black man stating the obvious.”
And even though his deal with Adidas is in jeopardy, West is unapologetic and plans to continue wearing (and distributing) the t-shirts.
“Somebody called me last night and said, ‘Anyone wearing a White Lives Matter T-shirt is going to be green-lighted.’ That means they’re going to get busted if they wear it,” he told Carlson.
“I’m like, you know, ‘OK, then give me the green light.’
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