Amid continued coverage of the artist formerly known as Kanye West’s social media remarks directed at Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson, among others, Daily Show host Trevor Noah has shared a nearly 10-minute video detailing his wish for society at large to change how they’re interacting with the ongoing story.
On Tuesday’s episode of the long-running Comedy Central series, Noah first spoke generally about how certain celebrity-focused stories end up having the ability to “transcend everything” and start speaking to larger discussions on issues that more directly impact everyday people. The Ye x Kim x Pete developments, collectively, are entering that realm, Noah argued.
While public instances of Ye stating that he wants Kim back could have been seen as “romantic,” Noah argued that the situation has since turned “more and more belligerent,” with the comedian pointing to the “Eazy” video as one of the “most extreme examples” of this. From there, Noah addressed Ye’s explanation that “art is therapy,” ultimately bringing in a mention of Eminem.
“What’s weird about the situation is Kanye West has told us that he struggles with his mental health,” Noah said around the 2:21 mark. “So I get it, you wanna have art as therapy. But here’s what’s weird that Kanye doesn’t understand. It’s like, what we’re seeing is—it makes you uncomfortable, man. Here’s the thing, Eminem was Eminem from the beginning. ‘I’m gonna kill my ex-wife.’ But it was his shtick and we knew it was his shtick. He wasn’t that person. With Kanye, we don’t know how to feel. 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?”
Noah continued, saying this facet of the story puts society into a “precarious position.” He also addressed the recently released texts between Davidson and Ye, notably extending some criticism to the SNL actor for his approach during the exchange.
Early Wednesday, Ye included a screenshot of Noah amid a series of IG updates, captioning the post with a malicious reworking of “Kumbaya” lyrics:
Elsewhere on the Daily Show episode, Noah explained that he understands why much of society is treating these stories lightly and that there are parts of Ye’s remarks with which he can relate (namely the Donda 2 artist’s comments about TikTok). Noah also briefly reflected on his experience of growing up in an abusive household, including the moment he learned his stepfather had shot his mother.
“The point is Kim Kardashian and countless other women, they find themselves in a terrible position, you know?” Noah said around the 6:11 mark in the video above. “Because asking Kanye to stop clearly isn’t helping but at the same time he hasn’t broken any laws, you know, so can she get him arrested? No, I don’t think so. Would she even want to? I mean, she spends half her time helping Black people come out of jail so now she can’t throw Kanye West in. That’s a bit of a paradox. But still, she’s being harassed.”
See more from Noah up top, including a reflection on the moment early in life when he realized we live in a world “where women are questioned for what is happening to them as opposed to people questioning what is happening to them.”
