Kanye West And Donald Trump Meeting Slammed By John Legend: ‘I Think Kanye Was A Publicity Stunt’ [Video]
Kanye West and Donald Trump meeting each other at the Trump Tower in New York has dominated much of the entertainment news media since Tuesday, and one singer believes that the whole purpose of the meeting was to achieve only that.
According to 10-time Grammy winner and actor John Legend, the reason behind Kanye West’s meeting with Donald Trump was to achieve “publicity” for both the rapper and America’s new President-elect. While the political attitudes of both individuals vary to a wide degree, the one thing common between them is alluring fame, and that could be the reason that Kanye West and Donald Trump surprised the American public and the media with an unexpected meeting on Tuesday.
Sudden as it was, the previously unannounced meeting left the American media flailing for the actual reason behind it. The fact that the meeting happened at the back of a long hospital spell for the rapper on account of severe exhaustion and sleep deprivation while Donald Trump also remains occupied with transitioning, meant that the American people were left completely confused as to why the two celebrities devoted so much time to meeting each other at this crucial point of time.
But maybe the reason that Kanye went to Trump was to learn some tricks from him on how to win the presidency since Yeezy has lofty plans of launching his own presidential campaign in a few years’ time.
In August 2015, #KanyeWest said he'd run for president in 2020. After meeting w/ President-elect #Trump today, he tweeted "#2024." Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/1jWle5JKuG
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 13, 2016
But John Legend, who has previously collaborated with Kanye West on the song, “Blame Game,” told France’s Clique TV that he was deeply “disappointed” in the singer and the fact that he went to meet Donald trump. Legend said Kanye meeting Trump meant that he endorsed the new President-elect’s message.
“Whatever’s in his mind, I disagree with him,” Legend replied when told that Kanye wanted to set up a “direct line of communication” with the President-elect.
The singer also said that he was not pleased by Kanye West’s insistence during a recent rant that he “would have voted for Trump.”
“I think Trump has been corrosive to the country. I think the things he’s promised to do have been very concerning for a lot of people and for Kanye to support that message is very disappointing,” Legend told the TV channel.
After the meeting on Tuesday, Kanye West emphasized that he met Trump to “discuss multicultural issues” including “bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculum, and violence in Chicago.” But Legend contends that West’s insistence that he met Trump to discuss the greater good is merely a smokescreen to hide the real reason, which, as the Academy Award winner put it, was mere “publicity.”
“I don’t think it’s impossible to talk to [Trump] about issues, but I won’t be used as a publicity stunt. I think Kanye was a publicity stunt.”
While the real reason that Kanye West and Donald Trump met at Trump Tower might be anybody’s guess at this point of time, but John Legend’s interpretation certainly holds water. First of all, it was requested by Kanye, according to Trump’s spokeswoman, Hope Hicks. And the fact that Trump granted it despite a load of more consequential stuff happening means that the President-elect also hoped to gain something from it. Something that both of them are after, which is fame and publicity.
For the general American, however, the meeting is bound to bear no fruit, because as someone rightly put it, the meeting between Kanye West and Donald Trump was a meeting between two of America’s biggest narcissists. No wonder they enjoyed each other’s company.
[Featured Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]
