Kanye West Will Not Attend Donald Trump’s Presidential Inauguration, Source Confirms
Kanye West will not travel to Washington, D.C. for Donald Trump‘s presidential inauguration this Friday, a source close to the rapper confirms to PEOPLE.
The insider adds that “Trump’s people never even asked” West to perform.
The chairman of Trump’s presidential inaugural committee also previously told CNN that while “Donald is a great admirer of Kanye,” West would not be performing.
West, 39, made headlines in December when he visited the president-elect at Trump Tower and then posed for photos. Trump told reporters that he and West have “been friends for a long time,” and said they discussed “life.”
At the time, a rep for Trump, 70, told PEOPLE in a statement that West had requested the meeting. “The President-elect and Kanye are old friends and they discussed a wide range of topics. It was a very good discussion,” the statement said.
The rapper later tweeted that he wanted to meet with the president-elect “to discuss multicultural issues.”
“These issues included bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculums, and violence in Chicago,” said West. “I feel it is important to have a direct line of communication with our future president if we truly want change.”
The meeting closely followed West’s hospitalization at UCLA Medical Center for exhaustion and sleep deprivation. West was first admitted on Nov. 21, and was closely supervised, a source said, until his release on Nov. 30.
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Trump’s reported struggle to assemble star power for his inauguration has made headlines, with many musicians publicly declining to perform – including Elton John, Garth Brooks and Céline Dion.
Confirmed performers include Jackie Evancho, who will sing the national anthem, as well as Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood.
