Kanye West & ‘White Lives Matter’: Here Are Some Of The Celebrities That Denounce The Claim

Even though it’s now sort of Kanye West’s “thing” to be provocative for the sake of provocation, his schtick does appear to be wearing thin. While it’s still not entirely sure what statement Kanye West wanted to make with his YZY season nine fashion show — particularly, with the shirts emblazoned with the reactionary slogan “White Lives Matter” — it’s becoming clear from the reactions of his celebrity peers that he missed the mark.

In the days since the show, Kanye has come under scrutiny from a variety of voices, including fellow musicians like Jaden Smith, fashion mavens like Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and model Bella Hadid, and social critics like Van Lathan. Hadid called out Kanye for attacking Karefa-Johnson with his Instagram posts (which have since been deleted), calling him “a bully and a joke,” while Lathan succinctly summed up the real issue with Kanye’s contrarian fashion statement. “It’s a white supremacist notion because it posits that we can’t have a conversation about the worth of Black people without having a conversation about the worth of white people,” he wrote. “The notion that it ALWAYS has to be about white people in America is incredibly frustrating, emotionally draining, and the whole problem.”

Even Boosie BadAzz, who is hardly anyone’s shining example of political correctness, pointed out Ye’s hypocrisy. “After all we been through as a race you put this disrespectful sh*t on,” he wrote. “U gives no f*cks about how Blacks have died n suffered to the hands of the white man. N u say Bush don’t like Black people.” Considering how often Boosie’s been on the wrong side of social issues, you have to think Kanye is truly, obviously out of bounds on this one.

In any event, it looks like Kanye’s latest stunt hasn’t won him very many friends… and hopefully, it’ll mean that his fellow celebrities might soon stop blindly supporting him and start encouraging him to do better than he has been.