Kanye West has reportedly been barred from the Grammy Awards performance roster over his recent behavior on social media.
According to Variety, despite the fact that West was not on the initial list of performers for the event, a rep for West confirmed that the rapper had received a call informing him that he would not be allowed to perform at the 2022 Grammys.
From Variety’s report:
Kanye West has been barred from performing at the Grammy Awards due to his “concerning online behavior,” a rep for the artist confirms to Variety. Reps for the Recording Academy and CBS, which present the Grammys, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
West’s rep cited a report in the Blast posted late Friday claiming that the artist’s team received a phone call Friday night informing him he had been “unfortunately” removed from the lineup of performers for the show due to his “concerning online behavior.” While West, who is up for five 2022 Grammy Awards, was not among the first list of performers announced on Tuesday, he may have been a planned performer. A rep for West sent Variety a link to that story, saying only “This is confirmed”; the rep did not respond to requests for further information, although the Blast report states, “Our sources say Kanye’s team isn’t surprised by the decision.”
West has always been a bit of a wild card — from his 2005 Hurricane Katrina outburst claiming, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” to the time he interrupted Taylor Swift to praise Beyonce at the Video Music Awards — and Variety noted that the Grammy producers may simply be hoping to avoid a potential scene.
And given the things West has chosen to post about recently — and the way in which he has chosen to post them — fears that he could use the Grammys stage to draw attention to something other than just his art appear to be well-founded.
Following his very public split with ex-wife Kim Kardashian, West has used his social media accounts to claim that he has not been allowed to see the four children he shares with Kardashian — a claim that she denies. And he has repeatedly attacked her new beau, “Saturday Night Live” comedian Pete Davidson.
And the Grammys producers aren’t the only ones concerned with West’s online behavior, either. Just last week, West earned a temporary ban from Instagram after he directed a racial slur at “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah.
As The Daily Wire reported;
A Meta spokesperson confirmed Wednesday night that the account @kanyewest, which boasts 15.6 million followers, was temporarily deleted for “violating policies on hate speech, bullying and harassment.” He is unable to post, comment or send DMs for 24 hours. The company confirmed they will take additional steps if Ye continues to violate the platform’s rules.
The situation began when the “Donda” rapper allegedly posted a photo of comedian Trevor Noah along with a caption that used racial slurs. Page Six said the caption replaced the lyrics to “Kumbaya” with, “All in together now… K*** baya my lord k*** baya K*** baya my lord K*** baya Oooo’ lord K*** baya.”
West was apparently responding to Noah’s comments regarding his contentious split from Kardashian.
“It’s spun into a story that seems fully tabloid but I think deserves a little more awareness from the general public. … I know everyone thinks it’s a big marketing stunt,” Noah said, adding, “Two things can be true: Kim likes publicity, Kim is also being harassed. Those things can be happening at the same time.”