Kanye West Apologizes For His Comments On The Death Of George Floyd
The rapper spoke to a crowd of reporters and fans over the weekend in Los Angeles.
The Kanye West controversy saga shows no signs of subsiding with West’s recent statements regarding his controversial comments on the death of George Floyd. To refresh your memory, just a few weeks ago West went on the popular podcast show Drink Champs for a three hour-long episode covering many topics including Ye’s recent anti-BLM stunts at Paris Fashion Week, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, his business deals with Adidas and Gap, and among many other significant topics regarding the controversial rapper. At one point in the episode, West questions the reality behind George Floyd’s death, claiming that he died of a fentanyl overdose and that he was not murdered by Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, who is currently serving a 22-year sentence for his heinous act against Floyd (whom he indeed murdered, BTW).
Ye’s comments were followed by an onslaught of backlash, starting with Drink Champs co-host N.O.R.E. issuing a statement condemning Ye’s comments as well as removing the episode from distribution. George Floyd’s family then filed a $250 Million lawsuit against West and his associates for the harmfully inaccurate allegations against Floyd’s cause of death and for creating a severely traumatic environment for them, especially for Floyd’s young daughter, Gianna.
However, in typical Kanye West fashion, these comments were followed by an apology a few weeks later, with him speaking to a crowd of reporters and fans in Los Angeles. In this recorded encounter, Kanye states “So when I said that and I questioned the death of George Floyd, it hurt my people. It hurt the Black people. So, I want to apologize because God has shown me by what Adidas is doing and by what the media is doing, I know how it feels to have a knee on my neck now. So thank you God for humbling me and letting me know how it really felt. Because how could the richest Black man ever be humbled other than to be made to not be a billionaire in front of everyone off one comment.”
Despite this “apology”, Ye’s comments on George Floyd, as well as his recent antisemtitc comments made via Twitter, have already caused harm to many communities given his immense impact on his fans, followers and supporters. Not only has George Floyd’s family been emotionally impacted by West’s comments by having to relive the traumatic event of their family member’s death as well as having their family back in the headlines, but an antisemetic hate group in Los Angeles put up a banner on the Interstate 405 stating “Kanye is right about the Jews.” West’s antics are all fun and games until they bare physical manifestations of hate and intimidation towards the innocent victims that he is verbally tormenting.