You know, Kanye West is one of those guys who just can't help putting his foot in his mouth. Seriously, it feels like every other week the rapper has managed to accidentally land himself in hot water through some social faux pas or controversial comment. If you want an example, then just look at his well-publicized endorsement of President Donald Trump - a move which outraged a number of African-Americans who accused Ye of being an Uncle Tom.
However, none of that comes close to the backlash he received as a result of his misinformed comments about slavery. In a May 2018 interview on TMZ, Kanye proclaimed that he thought slavery was a "choice," saying: "When you hear about slavery for 400 years... for 400 years? That sounds like a choice."
After many people condemned this statement, Kanye took to Twitter to defend his words, stating: "Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will. My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved ... The reason why I brought up the 400 years point is because we can't be mentally imprisoned for another 400 years. We need free thought now. Even the statement was an example of free thought. It was just an idea. Once again I am being attacked for presenting new ideas."
Now Kanye's spouse Kim Kardashian has opened up about her own feelings during the whole slavery debacle in a recent interview. Commenting on the incident, Kim stated: "When I saw the clip, I was like, OK. I rushed home. I was hysterically crying. So I go home, he’s totally fine ... He loves being ramped up," she added. "He’s like, ‘I feel powerful when I’m ramped up, like, I don’t want to be, like, so suppressed. Like, yeah, I say crazy sh*t, but I’ve always said crazy sh*t. But that’s why I’m Kanye.'"
She added: "I also know that they’re gonna write a headline, and people are gonna assume that that’s exactly what you meant. … That, as a wife, is really frustrating to see the media take everything and run with it. I obviously support him, and will always, but he likes to speak for himself and I like to speak for myself. You know, as his wife, I just have to express how I feel and have those private conversations with him and just help him better communicate what he really means to say."
It's good that Kim feels like she can stand by her partner no matter what; that's a real show of loyalty and trust right there. But seriously Kanye, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't think a bit harder about what you're going to say before you open your mouth on national TV. Come on, dude.
