Kanye West defends supporting Marilyn Manson and hits out at #MeToo
Ye threw his support behind Marilyn Manson and DaBaby
Kanye West has defended platforming Marilyn Manson and DaBaby – and also criticised the #MeToo movement.
The rapper was speaking in a new interview when he appeared to belittle accusations of sexual harassment and violence if they originated from “10 years ago”. He also suggested that Manson (real name Brian Warner), who has denied a number of women’s claims that he sexually and emotionally assaulted them, cannot be barred from making art due to his suspected criminal behaviour.
Ye, as the rapper is now legally known, appeared on the ‘Drink Champs With Noreaga And DJ EFN‘ podcast recently in which he also discussed his politics and his marriage to Kim Kardashian.
He told the podcast: “All the Me Too – like, when I sit next to Marilyn Manson and DaBaby, right after both of them got cancelled, for five songs, you know, it’s like they can’t cancel a song.”
Ye was referencing his invitations to Manson and DaBaby, the latter of whom was accused recently of making homophobic comments about HIV and AIDS at Miami’s Rolling Loud festival, to join him on stage at a ‘DONDA’ listening event in August.
West continued: “They’ll hit you with the accusations of somebody who you was with 10 years ago.
“And also, there’s women who’ve been through very serious things, pulled in alleys against their will – that’s different than a hug, but it’s classified as the same thing. It’s power and politics. You know, power-hungry maniacs and just control. This is 1984 mind control we’re in.”
Meanwhile, Warner is facing lawsuits from four women. ‘Game Of Thrones’ actress Esmé Bianco has alleged that Manson used “drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts from [her] on multiple occasions” and violated sex trafficking laws.
Warner’s former fiancée Evan Rachel Wood has claimed that she was “brainwashed” and “groomed” by the rock musician. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission,” she wrote on Instagram.
Manson’s legal team called Bianco and the other women “co-conspirators” who are “desperately trying to conflate the imagery and artistry of Warner’s ‘shock rock’ stage persona, ‘Marilyn Manson’, with fabricated accounts of abuse” in a motion to dismiss Bianco’s suit [via BBC News].
Elsewhere on the podcast Ye said that he still supports former US president Donald Trump.
“I still got a red hat on today. I’ll let y’all know that. I might not got it on, but I’ll let y’all know where I stand,” he said in reference to the “Make America Great Again” promo cap that he wore to meet Trump at the White House in 2018.