Kanye West will not be able to perform at the 2022 Grammy Awards.
The 44-year-old rapper is up for five Grammys this year, including four nominations for best rap song (“Jail”), best melodic rap performance (“Hurricane”), best rap album, and album of the year for his work on his 10th studio album “Donda,” released in August 2021.
Despite his nominations, Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband has been barred from taking the stage at the awards show due to his “concerning online behavior,” according to People, citing West’s representative. The news was initially reported by The Blast.
According to The Blast, West’s recent online attack on Trevor Noah, who is presenting this year’s program on April 3, was a factor in the decision to remove him from the lineup of performers.
West was suspended from Instagram for at least 24 hours starting Wednesday evening after the Yeezy founder allegedly mocked Noah with a racial slur.
As per Us Weekly, after the “Daily Show” presenter expressed support for Kardashian and questioned the rapper’s behavior of his ex-wife, who was just proclaimed legally single after she began dating Pete Davidson in October last year, West allegedly made the alleged remark.
In an extended clip from Tuesday’s episode of his talk show, Noah said West and Kardashian’s story is one “more people should pay attention to” before adding that “over time, Kanye has become more and more belligerent in how he tries to get Kim back.”
“I do understand that art can be therapy — I honestly do understand that. But I also understand that therapy can be therapy,” Noah continued, insinuating that West should seek help.
A spokesperson for Meta, Instagram’s parent company, confirmed to TMZ that West’s recent posts broke the company’s hate speech, harassment, and bullying regulations, adding that the business is prepared to take further action if future violations arise.
Following West’s Grammys suspension, The Game, who collaborated with West on his hit “Eazy,” wrote a lengthy Instagram post defending the “Gold Digger” rapper.
“Time and time again they show us that they only want to STEAL the culture, not allow you to ever be their equals,” he began his post. “In a more obvious move for reasons of minuscule actions…The Grammys have, at the last minute, decided to pull @kanyewest from performing on the show as if we didn’t know it was coming.”
The Game, whose real name is Jayceon Terrell Taylor, thought that Noah might have played a role in the decision.
“[It] could be because @trevornoah is hosting, and there was a conversation held amongst his team and the [Recording Academy] that led to the decision or because Ye’s account was suspended just days ago for reasons unknown, especially in a world where all of the negativities of the world can be found on the same app with no repercussions or suspensions,” he wrote.
The Game went on to say that he doesn’t want to stay quiet “about the issues burning holes in my heart or narratives incorrectly pushed by the mass agenda to create a mindset that the person at hand is Krazy [sic] or has issues internally that are beyond repair.”
“For speaking freely on an app created for us to equally share as humans,” he alleged, Instagram might suspend his account next.
The tune by West and The Game earlier made headlines when the former appeared to threaten to “beat” Davidson in the track.
West also received a lot of backlashes earlier this month after releasing a music video for “Eazy” in which a claymation version of the “Saturday Night Live” comedian is kidnapped, tied up, and buried. He later removed the video.
