George Bush doesnât care about black people. Those seven words, delivered by an agitated Kanye West, not only impelled the best holy shit I canât believe he just did that look from Mike Myers, but were, as The Nationâs Mychal Denzel Smith noted, the âfirst relatable expression of black rage on a national stage.â
They came on Sept. 2, 2005, during the NBC special A Concert for Hurricane Reliefâa live televised event raising money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Amid the cacophony of celebrity camera-mugging, media delinquency, and governmental neglect, Westâs words cut through like a chainsaw; and, with YouTube less than four months old, became one of the first videos to go viral. Taken together with his pro-gay rights MTV interview one month prior, it also established West as one of the most exciting political voices of his generation.
But, as the celebrated poet and novelist Margaret Atwood once wrote, âPotential has a shelf life,â and if Westâs pronouncements over the past calendar year are any indication, his cachet as firebrand has all but run out.
Over the course of the past two weeks, members of the musician-cum-fashion designerâs inner circle have become alarmed by Westâs increasingly erratic behavior, from unprovoked emotional outbursts to signing merchandise with the signature âTrump.â
During one recent show, West announced to a shocked crowd that he âwould have voted for Trumpâif I voted,â before unleashing a patronizing mini-lecture directed towards the Black Lives Matter movement: âSpecifically to black people, stop focusing on racism,â he said. âThis world is racist, OK? Letâs stop being distracted to focus on that as much. Itâs a fucking fact. We are in a racist country.â With anti-Trump protests underway mere blocks from the San Jose, California, concert venue, the crowd did not take kindly to Westâs remarks, which were met with a chorus of boos, bottles, and merch set ablaze. If that werenât enough, he doubled down on Saturday during a performance in Sacramento, California, airing out everyone from BeyoncĂ© to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. âIâm on my Trump shit tonight,â he bellowed, before storming out after a grand total of three songs.
Following the twin outburstsâand subsequent backlashâWest canceled the remaining 21 dates on his Saint Pablo Tour. Then, according to TMZ, West attempted to assault a staff member at his trainer Harley Pasternakâs home gym. He was carted off to UCLA Medical Center at the advice of his personal physician, reportedly suffering from âtemporary psychosis due to sleep deprivation and dehydration.â
Who knows exactly why West canceled his tour, or why he visited the hospital. Perhaps he wishes to spend more time with his wife, Kim Kardashian, who suffered a traumatic robbery at gunpoint months earlier. Perhaps heâs been affected by the ninth anniversary of his motherâs passing on Nov. 10. Perhaps he is exhausted. Perhaps itâs none of these things.
In an interesting twist, however, the medical diagnosis may allow West to collect tens of millions in insurance money, reported TMZ. âKanye had an insurance policy that covered him in the event illness prevented him from performing. The policy provides the insurance carrier will pay Kanye for not only the money heâd make but the money he was obligated to pay others if âaccident or illness... prevents any Insured Person from appearing or continuing to appear in any or all of the Insured Performance(s) or Event(s),ââ wrote the gossip site.
Earlier this year, West claimed to be $53 million in debt.
Does âsleep deprivation and dehydrationâ excuse an attempted assault, as reports have suggested occurred? Does it excuse him telling black people to âstop focusing on racism?â Does it excuse his support of Donald Trump, who has a four-decade career of discrimination against the African-American community, from his housing discrimination suits in the â70s to his racist birther crusade meant to delegitimize the first black president?
What it certainly does not excuse is Westâs bizarre behavior prior to the Saint Pablo Tour, such as back in February, when he took to Twitter to defend Bill Cosby, a man whoâs been accused of sexual assault by over 50 women:
Or his continued support of Ian Connor, a stylist employed by West whoâs been accused of rape by as many as seven women, and regularly harasses women on Twitter. Westâs silence regarding the Connor allegations has been deafening.
West is a supremely gifted artistâone of the most important artists of his generation. And with much of the nation discouraged by the budding kakistocracy, Westâs army of devoted fans needs their leader to be the courageous, powerful, righteous voice they know he can be.