Kanye West is never afraid to be the center of attention, but his latest cameo gets him into trouble. On Thursday, June 12, Ye arrived at Sean "Diddy" Combs's federal sex trafficking trial in true Kanye style: dressed in all white, sunglasses on, climbing out from a swank Maybach. Christian "King" Combs greeted him outside the Manhattan courthouse, and the two walked in together.
While Kanye confirmed in a roundabout way that he was there to lend Diddy support, when questioned, he answered with a "yes" but didn't end up in the main courtroom. Instead, he was sent to an overflow room, where he saw part of the proceedings on a monitor before departing after just 40 minutes. Of course, his brief appearance did not go unnoticed. The cameras were flashing; fans were awestruck, and the media was in a frenzy.
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But while this might be a case of one friend standing up for another in a difficult time, not everyone is convinced. Gene Deal, Diddy's ex-bodyguard and a perennial truth speaker on industry phoniness, had many words, none of which were friendly.
In a no-holds-barred sit-down with The Art of Dialogue podcast, Deal labeled Kanye's courthouse stunt as "hypocritical" and "stupid."
"This the same nigga who got on Drink Champs about a year or so ago before Diddy went to jail, he was on there talking about Diddy was a fag,'" Deal said, alluding to Kanye's infamous interview last spring. "And so then he started talking all this crazy s### about Diddy."
On that episode of Drink Champs, Ye went on an old-fashioned tirade, ranting about Diddy, who "worked with the feds," and also being a "snake," in his words. "You did a deal with me, you f###### fed," Kanye said. "I ain't got no celebrity friends"… none of these n#####, all you bitch ass n#####, f### you.
With that in mind, Deal wonders what Kanye could have been thinking by showing up to support someone he's publicly trashed. In his opinion, this is not just confusing; it is dangerous optics.
"Having Kanye support you? Not that I think that's actually a good thing. It's stupid," Deal continued. "If I'm running for president and I can't disavow someone who hates Jews, they couldn't hire me," she said. "That's one of the last people I would have coming up there for me to support me, with his relationship with the Jewish population."
It's a pointed allusion to Kanye's history of controversies, including comments many people have condemned as antisemitic. To Deal, that renders Ye more of a liability than a loyalist, especially in a trial already shrouded in serious allegations and intense public attention.
So, for all the headlines, Kanye's dramatic drop-in inspired both for and against, but it is evident that not everyone feels it is helping. If Deal is correct, West's courthouse cameo may have done more to stir the pot than settle scores.
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