From snatching the mic at awards shows to his apparent support of Donald Trump, Kanye West is known for his outlandish behaviour. However, when it transpired that the 41-year-old rapper was presenting the Pornhub awards, no one knew where to look.
It all started when he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Kimmel asked him: "Do you feel like your attitude toward women has changed since having daughters?" To the amazement of just about everyone, he blurted out: "No, I still look at Pornhub."
Kanye was then given a lifetime membership to their premium package, in thanks for the mention. Then, perhaps in order to make the whole thing seem perfectly deliberate and above-board, Kanye agreed to be Creative Director of their inaugural awards show.
Pensively fingering his facial hair like a high-end designer at a fashion show, Kanye had an air of Karl Lagerfeld about him. However, Milan this was not. Instead of catwalk models, Kanye was eyeing adult stars and what genuinely appeared to be Kim Kardashian impersonators.
Even the highly phallic awards themselves are rumoured to have been designed by West himself. As a fashion designer in his own right, it seemed that he was keen for everything to have a certain “Kanye” feel to it.
Needless to say, it took a few days to digest what had happened. After all, it's not every day that one of the world's biggest stars appears in a livestream on that website you know about but claim not to go on. However, as is often the case, the reaction of the internet made for hilarious reading.
Kanye also took the opportunity to drop a new single - I Love It - on which he collaborated with 18-year-old Lil Pump of Gucci Game fame. It has already claimed the number one spot on Apple Music Global and Spotify Global and YouTube worldwide.
The video, thought to be inspired by the game Roblox, features the two men is enormous square outfits and comically-oversized shoes. Taking influence from the video for Drake’s Hotline Bling, it is incredibly meme-able and has already started an “I Love It” challenge.
Directed by Spike Jonze - who directed Where the Wild Things Are and won an Oscar for his screenwriting of Her - the the music video was almost as strange as the fact that one of the world’s biggest music artists was presenting the Pornhub awards.
Page Six originally announced the pairing between West and the video-sharing platform, with his representatives confirming to Vanity Fair that he was indeed “co-creative director” (rather than just a curious bystander). Hosted by adult-film star Asa Akira, the other co-creative was Willo Perron.
Always keen to court controversy, West’s attitudes towards women - conveyed both through his music and through his interviews - have long been the subject of criticism. In the music video for his song Famous, a number of both male and female celebrities are recreated in wax and lie naked with him in a bed.
Much like the subsequent rise of pornographic "deepfakes" - where someone’s image is overlaid on the face of a performer in an adult scene - the use of an unrelated person’s likeness was criticised for being intrusive and immoral.
Kanye also fell out with Drake after getting involved in a longstanding feud with Pusha T. However, he recently apologised, writing: “Since we were building as friends and brothers I should have spoken to Pusha about the Quentin Miller bar. There should have been no songs with my involvement that had any negative energy towards you. I never listened to either diss track that followed but I did hear quotes from both songs after they were released.”
“I did not have any conversations about your child with Pusha,” he added. “I don’t play with the idea of people’s children after I spoke to Wiz a few years earlier. I understand Pusha’s issues as a man if someone mentions your fiancé men go mask off. I’ve done the same myself at times. I love you and I love Pusha and we all have an admiration for each other’s craft.” The rapper then signed off: “This is all Jedi level. I will be coming to your show within the next seven days to give love and be inspired by the art you have created.”
Of course, Kanye West has never been one to lose focus. He produced albums which were released, through his label G.O.O.D. Music, on five consecutive Fridays this summer. However, that’s not all he’s been up to. In further news that culture, politics and society as a whole is now just one big meme farm, he also recently announced that he’s keen to run for the presidency in 2024.
However, considering the rise of the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns, West’s new brand affiliation could be in danger of alienating potential voters and, perhaps likely, existing fans. In fact, while much of the focus has been on the film and television industries, sexual abuse in porn is rife - though no one want to talk about it.
