Kanye West defends wearing 'White Lives Matter' shirt: 'It was funny’
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight, Thursday, where he explained why he wore a “white lives matter” shirt alongside far-right conservatory pundit Candace Owens.
"I had someone call me last night and said anybody wearing a ‘white lives matter’ shirt is going to be green-lit, and that means they're going to beat them up if they wear it,” Ye shared. “Okay, green-light me then.”
"So, the answer to why I wrote ‘white lives matter’ on a shirt is because they do,” Ye added. “It's the obvious thing."
While Ye received backlash for wearing the saying, which the Anti-Defamation League defines as “a white supremacist phrase,” he doesn’t believe “white lives matter” should be a controversial statement.
“Because the same people that have stripped us of our identity and labeled us as a color have told us what it means to be black,” Ye explained. “In the vernacular that we are supposed to have.”
And while Ye claimed he wore the shirt for altruistic purposes, he admitted he also thought it was funny.
“I thought the shirt was a funny shirt,” Ye said. “I thought the idea of me wearing it was funny. And I said, 'Dad, why did you think it was funny?' He said, 'Just a Black man stating the obvious.'”
Video Transcript
[AUDIO LOGO]
KANYE WEST: I had someone call me last night and said anybody wearing a White Lives Matter shirt is going to be green lit. And that means that they're going to beat them up if they wear it. And I'm like, you know, OK, green light me then.
- Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight, Thursday, where he explained why he wore a white Lives Matter shirt alongside far-right conservatory pundit Candace Owens.
KANYE WEST: The answer to why I wrote White Lives Matter on a shirt is because they do. It's the obvious thing.
- While Ye received backlash for wearing the saying, which the anti-defamation league defines as a white supremacist phrase, he doesn't believe White Lives Matter should be a controversial statement.
KANYE WEST: Because the same people that have stripped us of our identity and labeled us as a color have told us what it means to be Black and the vernacular that we're supposed to have.
- And while Ye claimed he wore the shirt for altruistic purposes, he admitted it was also kind of funny.
KANYE WEST: I thought the shirt was a funny shirt. I thought the idea of me wearing it was funny. And I said, dad, what did you think, it was funny? He said, just a Black man stating the obvious.
[AUDIO LOGO]
