During an interview with The Times, singer John Legend reflected on the transformation of his former collaborator Kanye West, saying that the controversial rapper’s “descent started” after his mother’s 2007 death.
Legend, whose real name is John Roger Stephens, was previously signed to Kanye’s GOOD Music record label. The All of Me singer reflected on his time with the label and Kanye’s outlook during that time.
“He had so much optimism, so much creativity,” Legend, 46, recalled, per The Independent. “It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now.”
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The Green Light singer in the interview also touched on Kanye publicly praising Adolf Hitler and his antisemitic comments. “I didn’t see a hint of what we’re seeing now, his obsessions with antisemitism, anti-blackness, and it is sad to see his devolution,” Legend said.
Legend was asked what could have been the reason behind Kanye’s transformation. “I don’t think we’re qualified to psychoanalyse him, but after his mother passed in 2007, there was definitely a difference,” he said. “His descent started then and seems to have accelerated recently.”
Legend and West’s friendship went downhill in 2022 after the rapper and fashion designer publicly endorsed Donald Trump.
“[Kanye and I] aren’t friends as much as we used to be. I honestly think because we publicly disagreed on his running for office, his supporting Trump, I think it became too much for us to sustain our friendship, honestly,” Legend said in an interview on The Axe Files CNN podcast.
Kanye, whose mother Donda West passed away on November 10, 2007 after suffering complications from a cosmetic surgery, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the last few years. He came under scrutiny in 2018 when he infamously suggested slavery was a choice.
The College Dropout rapper has also had online spats with fellow rappers and his former business partners including Adidas. The athletic clothing and footwear company parted ways with him in 2022 after he made antisemitic comments on social media.
Kanye, 47, recently praised Hitler, released a song titled after the Nazi Germany dictator, and sold T-shirts with the swastika sign on his website.
