Don Lemon is the latest high-profile figure to criticize Kanye “Ye” West, who’s facing a renewed wave of backlash as he mounts a comeback despite past antisemitic statements.
The former CNN host, now emceeing his own eponymous talk show on social media, went after West in a clip that he posted to his Facebook account on Monday.
“Kanye is a whole minstrel show,” Lemon said. “Kanye is a whole bigot. Kanye is a whole antisemite.”
In particular, Lemon took issue with West fans who “cancel R. Kelly.”
Disgraced R&B star R. Kelly is currently serving multiple decades in prison after being convicted of racketeeering and sex trafficking.
Lemon went on say “if you are standing for Kanye, you’re standing for Trump,” connecting the controversial rapper with the president.
While it’s unclear how much West still aligns himself with Trump, he was an outspoken supporter in the past, particularly during Trump’s first term, when he even met with the president in the Oval Office, a session that Lemon took issue with, referring to it as a “minstrel show” on CNN.
Lemon’s comments come after West mounted two high-profile, sold-out L.A. concerts last week with the first show serving as his most high-profile U.S. performance in years amid controversy around his antisemitic views, including releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler” less than a year ago, for which he apologized in a Wall Street Journal advertisement in late January. The second show saw the rapper joined onstage by such high-profile musicians as Lauryn Hill and Travis Scott.
West was also set to headline the U.K.’s Wireless Festival in July before he was blocked from traveling to the country, in the wake of criticism of his antisemitic views, earlier Tuesday. The festival, which saw numerous sponsors drop out in recent days, was subsequently canceled.
Last week concertgoers who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter before West’s first L.A. concert seemed willing to separate the art from the artist, saying they were there for the music despite being aware of his past hateful rhetoric.
