2016 MTV Video Music Awards – Backstage & Audience – Credit: FilmMagic
Kanye West’s supporters have stood by the rapper through a near-constant storm of controversy and problematic behavior — from relentlessly taunting his ex-wife to calling slavery an option and everything in between. Needless to say, they’ve learned to choose their battles. But after West unveiled a long-sleeved White Lives Matter shirt during a showcase of his new Yeezy line at a YZY SZN 9 presentation in Paris, his friends in the fashion world turned against him. Now even Sean “Diddy” Combs has decided this is a fight he’s ready to speak out about – because it goes well beyond fashion.
“I’m not going to address everything that’s going on in the world online, but what I have to address is this ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt,” Diddy said in a recent Instagram video. “I’ve always been there and will always support my brother Kanye as a freethinker. But the White Lives Matter t-shirt, I don’t rock it, you know what I’m saying? I am not there.”
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West debuted the shirt alongside attending guests including conservative pundit Candace Owens and Lauryn Hill’s daughter Selah Marley, granddaughter of Bob Marley. Diddy originally addressed the antics during a performance at The Breakfast Club, saying the rapper’s actions as a freethinker are often misconstrued. But in his most recent post, the music mogul clarified his mind and shared his grievances before the joke continued.
“Right now, America has only poverty, imprisonment and death planned for us,” Diddy added. “So before I can get to any other lives – which counts all lives – but that’s Black Lives Matter, don’t play with it. Don’t wear the shirt. Don’t buy the shirt. Don’t play with the shirt. It is no joke.”
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This had bothered him for a few days after he revealed during his Breakfast Club performance that he needed time to “get over that t-shirt”. He added: “Because right now we are the ones who are dying. There really is no time for lives other than the tribe right now. You must be uncompromisingly black and love your people and tribe first.”
Aside from the fashion perspective (Diddy previously launched his own clothing line under the Sean John brand), Diddy and West go way back. In June, West made a surprise appearance at the BET Awards to pay tribute to Diddy, who took home the Lifetime Achievement Award, calling him his “favorite artist” and crediting him with inspiring “so many” of his life decisions.
Despite the spate of criticism he received, West doubled down on his decision to debut the offensive tee. Just last night he apparently boasted that his shirt got the most press out of all fashion week events. “Nothing happened except my t-shirt,” he wrote. “Remember my only t-shirt got all the attention.”
Is there one thing he still needs to address? Allegations from aspiring designers who claim their work was overturned without their knowledge after meeting with Kanye and his team.
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