“The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah has defended Kanye West over the rapper’s removal from the Grammys lineup following a string of alarming recent social media posts.
“I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye,” Noah tweeted on Sunday.
West, whose name has been changed legally to Ye, was barred from performing at the awards show due to his “concerning online behavior,” his representatives told several news outlets over the weekend.
Noah is hosting this year’s Grammy Awards. West is up for five awards, including album of the year for “Donda.” Sources close to Noah told CNN that the comedian had nothing to do with West’s performance being canceled.
One of the factors that led to the Grammys’ decision was West’s recent exchange with Noah, according to The Blast, which first reported the news citing “insiders.”
West was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours after he directed a racial slur at Noah last week. The comedian had called out West’s persistent harassment of his ex, Kim Kardashian, and her new boyfriend Pete Davidson.
“What we’re seeing is one of the most powerful, one of the richest women in the world, unable to get her ex to stop texting her, to stop chasing after her, to stop harassing her,” Noah said on “The Daily Show” on Monday.
West was suspended on Wednesday for violating Instagram’s policies on hate speech, bullying and harassment.
Noah had commented on West’s post about him before it was deleted, telling the rapper that it “breaks my heart to see you like this” and that “there are few artists who have had more of an impact on me than you.”
Earlier this month, on the same day a judge granted Kardashian’s request to dissolve her marriage to West, West posted the music video for his song “Eazy” to Instagram. In the video, an animated version of West kidnaps and buries alive a character who looks like Davidson.
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 3.