We all know Kanye West to be quite the controversial character despite his very successful career. He rose to fame in the early 2000s, earning several recognitions for his work as a producer. He transitioned to become a recording artist and released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004. The album received 10 Grammy nominations at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards and won Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song with “Jesus Walks.”
He is also well-known for his interest in fashion A Bathing Ape and Nike on limited-edition sneakers. He launched his first collection in Paris in 2011, collaborated with the French label APC on a capsule collection in 2013, and signed a $10 million deal with Adidas, launching his first apparel collection Yeezy Season 1, with the brand in October 2015.
At the start of 2015 West became the only rapper in history to record with Paul McCartney, releasing a single, “Four Five Seconds,” with the Beatles legend and Rihanna. A month later, he came to another award-show interruption, this time at the Grammys, where West objected to Beck winning the Best Album award. “Beck needs to respect artistry, and he should have given his award to Beyoncé.”
We’ve chosen some of Kanye’s top controversies throughout the duration of his career in music, politics, fashion, and more.
5. Kanye’s Outburst on President Bush, September 2005
Kanye shocked everyone when he went off-script during a live TV fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina in 2006. Actor Mike Myers watched confused and Kanye continued to rant about the media’s portrayal of Katrina’s black victims and ended his outburst by bashing the president saying “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” The show’s producer cut him off instantly and pushed on to the next presenter.
4. Kanye Defends R Kelly, January 2019
Kanye publicly defended singer-songwriter, R Kelly following the release of the documentary, Surviving R Kelly. Kanye insisted fans should ignore the film and continue listening to his music based on the idea of separating the art from the artist.
“They just gonna pull up full documentaries on him, then they gonna come with the Michael (Jackson) documentary. … We can all enjoy all their music all we want. I thought I wasn’t going to go there today. If we’re gonna tear down artists, let’s go ahead and take (Leonardo) da Vinci out the Lourve while we’re at it. Let’s take down all the art.”
Kim quickly showed her support of Kanye on Twitter and said his statements were taken out of context.
3. Kanye Runs for President, July 2020
In August 2015, Kanye announced he’d be running for president in 2020 and many were skeptical. Some were curious to hear a speech or see Kim as the First Lady. Many believed it wouldn’t happen, but we did recognize the division was becoming crazier by the minute. Then on the Fourth of July in 2020, Kanye declared he’d be running for president in the upcoming election. Elon Musk confusingly supported Kanye and said he had his “full support.” Many rallies later, Kanye’s campaign failed, collecting just 0.04% of nationwide votes.
2. Kanye Wears a MAGA Hat, April 2018
In December 2016 Kanye met the loathed President in his Trump Tower and Kanye established his support for Donald Trump very blatantly when he posted a photo of himself wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat in April 2018.
After receiving the hat autographed by Trump, Kanye tweeted that the president was his “brother.” His backing for the president has led to many fans and celebrities turning away from Kanye. He completely bashed George Bush in 2006, then supported Trump in 2018…
1. Kanye Interrupts Taylor’s VMAs Speech, September 2009
Who could forget this outburst? Most agree Kanye’s craziest and move controversial moment throughout his career was the unforgettable 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. When Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video for You Belong With Me, Kanye ran to the stage and interrupted her with a rant and protest saying Beyoncé should’ve won with Single Ladies.
