After shocking the world by meeting with Donald Trump, with blonde hair, Kanye West is seemingly the only performer not asked to perform at Trump’s inauguration.
In an interview with CNN, the chairman of Trump’s inauguration committee, Tom Barrack revealed that despite the “friendship”, Yeezy will not be in the building to welcome the President-elect to the White House. Adding insult and a tidbit of racism to the mix, Barrack then went on to blame the exclusion on the committee wanting to keep the event “traditionally American”.
“[Kanye] considers himself a good friend of the President and it’s not the venue,” Barrack said. “Who we have for the entertainment is perfect and we are keeping the event typically and traditionally American.”
The statement that Barrack gave to CNN seems to completely contradict the array of requests sent to entertainers. While President-elect Donald Trump has been trying to wrangle some A-list talent to perform at his inauguration celebrations — the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, America’s Got Talent contestant Jackie Evancho, and the Rockettes are some of the few performers who actually accepted the invitation to perform— many other musicians have spoken publicly about declining an offer to celebrate the president-elect.
Artists who have reportedly been approached by Trump’s various reps to perform at the inauguration and have declined include 2 Chainz, Jennifer Holliday and Elton John, among a long list of others.
In other Kanye West news, Washington University students can now take a deeper dive into the world of Kanye West with a course that began this week: “Politics of Kanye West: Black Genius and Sonic Aesthetics.”
According to the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, Seventy-five students are registered for the course spearheaded by associate professor Dr. Jefferey McCune, will observe highlights from the artist’s life last year include a lauded album, “The Life of Pablo,” and a public breakdown followed by a stint in rehab.
McCune sees the course as a “good way to get students to connect issues of politics, race, gender, sexuality and culture.”
Georgia State University offered a course on West in 2015, and one at the University of Missouri in 2014 focused on West and Jay-Z.
Check out the video below.
