The Recording Academy has pulled the plug on Kanye West’s Grammys performance.
News of the ban began circulating Friday night, about two weeks before the awards show is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas. A spokesperson for Ye confirmed the decision to Variety on Saturday, claiming the rapper’s camp had received a call from the Academy, informing them that Ye had been removed from the lineup. The supposed reason? Ye’s “concerning online behavior.”
Though Grammy organizers didn’t respond to outlets’ requests for comment, sources told the Blast that Kanye’s team wasn’t surprised by the decision. The polarizing artist has made headlines for his recent social media activity, which ultimately led to a suspension from Instagram. The platform’s parent company, Meta, confirmed the temporary ban earlier this week, explaining Ye had violated its policies against hate speech, bullying, and harassment.
Kanye has continued to use his Instagram to take shots at a number of celebrities, including his estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, and her new boyfriend, Pete Davidson. He also used the platform to slam Trevor Noah, who previously addressed Ye’s antics on The Daily Show.
“With Kanye, we don’t know how to feel,” Noah said. “We don’t know how to worry. And I think Kanye doesn’t seem to understand that. He goes, well, ‘leave me to create my art.’ Yeah but Kanye, you told us you have problems. Now when we worry about that, you say we shouldn’t worry because it’s not problems. Or it is problems? Which is it?”
Kanye responded to the segment with a post in which he called Noah a racial slur. It’s also worth noting that Noah is set to host the 2022 Grammy Awards.
The 44-year-old artist received five nominations for this year’s ceremony, including Best Rap Album and Album of the Year for 2021’s Donda. The 64th Annual Grammy Awards will go down April 3 at the MGM Grand, with performances by Billie Eilish, Jack Harlow, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, BTS, and more.
Earlier last week, TMZ’s New York producer Seleah Simone caught up with gospel legend Erica Campbell (Mary Mary) and asked her if the Sunday Service artist’s behavior during the week goes against what he exhibits on Sundays. Check out her answer below:
