John Legend has said that his friendship with Kanye West suffered when the rapper publicly supported Donald Trump’s US presidency.
The musicians had previously collaborated numerous times, and West was a producer on Legend’s 2004 album Get Lifted, which was released on West’s label GOOD music.
But Legend, who performed at the Democratic National Convention in 2020 in support of Joe Biden, now says the political division between the stars “became too much for us to sustain” and the pair “aren’t friends as much as we used to be”.
“[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 during an appearance on the CNN podcast The Axe Files with David Axelrod.
West’s support of Trump’s presidency included a much-publicised visit to the Oval Office and repeatedly wearing “Make America Great Again” baseball hats. Then, in 2020, West decided to run for president as a rival to Trump.
Apparently, Legend’s decision not to support West’s bid further injured the friendship. “He was upset that I didn’t support his run for presidency of the United States of America — for understandable reasons,” Legend said.
As recently as 2021, though, West renewed his support for former president Trump. “‘I’ve still got a red hat on,” he said in a podcast interview.
Legend, on the other hand, is a reliable supporter of the Democratic party in the US. He performed at the presidental inauguration of Barack Obama and campaigned for Hillary Clinton.
Elsewhere in his CNN interview, the singer-songwriter speculated about his own political future. “I do not want to run for office. I definitely don’t want to do it now. I don’t envision myself wanting to do it in the future,” he said.
“I feel like I’m able to make a big impact through the work that I’m doing, and I like the way that I’m doing it now.”
