Entertainment

Chance The Rapper Just Shared A Lengthy Apology For Defending Kanye West

by Stephanie Downs
Rich Polk/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images; Victor Boyko/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

In case you haven't been following along, Kanye West has been tweeting up a storm. And his tweets have mainly gotten not-so-positive attention for their support of President Donald Trump. In relation to all of the negative attention West garnered for his stances, his friend Chance The Rapper came to his defense on April 25. But, on April 27, Chance The Rapper apologized for defending Kanye West in a statement he posted on Twitter. The apologetic response came only hours after Chance received thanks from none other than Trump himself.

In his apology, Chance wrote that he had initially defended West because of how close they are and because he "wanted to help his friend." He also said that his original defense did not mean that he agreed with what West was saying or that he aligns himself with Trump. The "No Problem" singer wrote, "Unfortunately, my attempt to support Kanye is being used to discredit my brothers and sisters in the movement and I can't sit by and let that happen either."

He reiterated that he would never throw his support behind someone such as Trump, even though he didn't mention him by name directly. Given that Chance's response came hours after Trump thanked him, the fact that this whole matter was spurred by West's Trump support, and the President's own policies and comments in the past, it's safe to assume that Chance was referencing Trump here. "I'd never support anyone who has made a career out of hatred, racism, and discrimination," he wrote. "I'd never support someone who'd talk about Chicago as if it's hell on earth and then take steps to make life harder here for the most disenfranchised among us."

Chance offered up his apology and stressed that he will help make the world a better place through his future actions: "So let my apology be seen in my future works, and let me make up for my poorly timed comments with immediate action and advocacy for those who need it most."

Chance finished his statement by saying that there does need to be an honest conversation about the issues in the country. But, he also said that in a situation of this nature, with West, his best course of action would be to "pick up the phone and talk to him about it."

As previously mentioned, Chance's apology came shortly after Trump tweeted his thanks to both him and West early on April 27. In the President's tweet, he wrote, "Thank you to Chance and Dr. Darrell Scott, they really get it (lowest Black & Hispanic unemployment in history)." Shortly after, the rapper replied in order to clarify things. He said simply:

On April 25, as West's tweets were gaining much attention, Chance tweeted that he had talked with the "Famous" singer and that he was the same as he's always been. He followed that up with "Black people don't have to be democrats" an obvious comment on the political statements his friend had been making.

Following all of this, the rapper tweeted a JAY-Z gif to his account. Based on the gif in question, it seemed as though Chance was possibly commenting on West showing off his signed MAGA hat (which Trump replied to), given that his gif response came only a half hour after said post.

In his apology, Chance mentioned that West was like family to him. The two musicians, who are both from Chicago, have been friends for a long time. The Acid Rap artist frequently mentioned that West was one of his idols on his social media accounts when he was just starting out. The "Power" rapper obviously took note of his talent and the two first met in 2014, according to The Fader. The two actually became so close that Chance helped West on his 2016 album, The Life of Pablo.

While Chance has now clarified his defense of his friend, West has yet to comment on his friend's apology, even though the tweet storm is still going strong.