Kanye West claims he has overcome “mind control” amid ongoing uproar over his “White Lives Matter” fashion show stunt.
The rapper, 45, made the remark while doubling down on his display of a controversial T-shirt bearing the slogan during his pop-up Paris Fashion Week catwalk show on Tuesday.
He said during a series of social media posts about the fallout from the show: “GOD IS GOOD I’M USED TO ATTACKS FROM HOLLYWOOD ACTORS SO TO GET SUPPORT FOR STANDING MY GROUND IS AMAZING WE BROKE THE MIND CONTROL NOBODY IS TRAUMA DRUNK NO MORE GOD IS FIGHTING THIS BATTLE FOR US.”
Despite the controversy, West has been backed by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Bob Marley’s granddaughter.
But Diddy, 52, also admitted the shirts were “tone deaf” and said they had left him reeling as West continues to be criticised over including tops bearing the slogan during a Paris Fashion Week show.
He said about the rapper in a new interview on “The Breakfast Club” radio show on Wednesday: “My boy is a super, super, super free thinker. And a lot of times, what he means is, like, misconstrued, you know what I’m saying?”
Diddy added people “don’t have to condemn Kanye or cancel him” – but admitted the shirts were “very tone-deaf.”
He said: “I understand white lives do matter, but it’s not that. (‘Black Lives Matter’] was our slogan. That wasn’t our slogan to go share with nobody else… because right now, we’re the ones that are dying, that are incarcerated, that are left in poverty.
“You have to be unapologetically black and love your people and love your tribe first.”
Diddy also admitted he needs “a couple of days to get over” West’s design.
Controversy erupted after Kanye staged a surprise runway show in Paris on Tuesday that saw a choir of children, including the designer’s daughter North, providing the soundtrack to models including Naomi Campbell hitting the catwalk – though Naomi did not wear the ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt.
The top featured a photo of Pope John Paul II on the front and was worn by models on the catwalk and by Ye, as West has rebranded himself, along with the right-wing commentator Candace Owens, a guest at the show.
Despite outrage over the T-shirt, Bob Marley’s granddaughter has said she won’t be silenced by critics of her wearing the top with West.
Selah Marley, 23, said in a lengthy Instagram stories post those offended by the move are suffering from a “hive mentality”.
She also used her @selah Instagram account to share a text she sent to a number she believed was West’s saying she wanted to explore the “depth behind” the “conversation” they started with the top.
West has recently stoked controversy by aligning himself with Donald Trump and declaring “slavery was a choice”.