Kanye West’s celebrity concert guests are telling on themselves

It seemed for a while that Ye, the artist known for most of his career as Kanye West, might be a permanent industry pariah. In 2022, several months after he tweeted, “Death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE,” he appeared on InfoWars with noted antisemite and right-wing provocateur Nick Fuentes, telling host Alex Jones, “I like Hitler. I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.” In February 2025, he reiterated his love of Hitler and Nazis by purchasing local ad time during the Super Bowl to direct people to his website, where he was selling T-shirts featuring a swastika. A few months after that, Ye released the song “Heil Hitler.” But last week, his album “Bully” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, and celebrity guests Travis Scott, CeeLo Green and Lauryn Hill appeared with him during two sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. In what were his first shows in the United States since 2021, Ye was able to make a reported $33 million.

It seemed for a while that Ye might be a permanent pariah.

Though his statements cost him a number of business partnerships and reportedly cost him his billionaire status, Ye has continued to be one of the most popular rappers across streaming platforms, and as the SoFi Stadium concerts showed, he remains an in-demand performer. He was scheduled to perform at a festival in London this summer, but the backlash reached such a pitch that the United Kingdom’s Home Office announced on Tuesday that it would block him from traveling to the country. A spokesperson for the Home Office said in a statement, “His presence in the U.K. would not be conducive to the public good,” and the festival itself was canceled.

But if he is still able to make tens of millions of dollars for a couple shows, will that matter? The Los Angeles concerts proved people, including his industry peers, are still willing to show up for and stand with Ye.

It’s reminiscent of how many artists were still eager to work with R. Kelly, even after the allegations of abuse of girls surfaced in 2002 (indeed, even before then, when he secretly married teenager Aaliyah). Their morality has been tainted by their pursuit of popularity and profits, and with no social or financial pressure to stop them. Even someone like Hill, known for her social consciousness, has not dropped her association with Ye. In past cases, some Black people defending Black male celebrities have twisted themselves into the belief they are rehabilitating the image of a Black man who has been unfairly tried in the court of public opinion, no matter who that Black man has harmed or how publicly they’ve committed that harm. ( One would hope they would find it in themselves and their own sense of what is right to demand more of their peers, but thus far, few have taken up the cause.

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In January, Ye took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal to blame his behavior on untreated bipolar I disorder and brain damage he linked to his infamous car accident when he was on the precipice of fame almost 24 years ago.

“I’m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness,” he wrote. “I write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.”

These words could be a good start, if there were any reason to believe Ye was being sincere. But his issuing an apology in the run up to new music and a tour makes it feel like it was coming from someone more concerned with ticket sales than contrition. Even if his apology were sincere, let’s acknowledge that there’s a big difference between the questions, “Should a person who has caused harm with their words or actions be given the opportunity to apologize, make amends, and redeem themselves?” and, “Should a person who has caused harm with their words or actions be given the opportunity to make millions of dollars?”

Ye has been here before, after saying and doing things that hurt and antagonized the very people he claims to make music for.

“When you hear about slavery for 400 years … For 400 years? That sounds like a choice,” he said.

Mychal Denzel Smith

Mychal Denzel Smith is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching” and “Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream,” winner of the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction.