Must be the new blond hair. Donald Trump called for a boycott of Kanye West in 2009, seven years before meeting with the rapper and calling him a “friend” at Trump Tower in New York City Tuesday, December 13.
The president-elect, 70, told TMZ in September 2009, a day after West, 39, stormed the staged and infamously interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV VMAs, that the rapper’s behavior was “disgusting.” Trump called for a boycott of West so that “this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”
The controversial businessman also said at the time that West was “grandstanding to get attention” and said that the “Famous” rapper didn’t genuinely care about Beyoncé, who lost to Swift that year.
On Wednesday, West flew to NYC to visit with Trump, making one of his first posthospitalization appearances. While posing for photos with the musician in the lobby of Trump Tower, Trump told reporters that they discussed “life” and claimed that they’ve “been friends for a long time.”
West, who sported a signature black sweatshirt and newly dyed hair, refused to answer reporters’ questions regarding their spontaneous meeting and simply said that he wanted to “take a picture.” (A source previously confirmed to Us that the duo did indeed talk about life and that contrary to reports, West is not being considered for a role to work with the White House.)
The unusual meeting came after the Life of Pablo artist revealed during one of his Saint Pablo tour stops last month that he would have voted for Trump had he participated in the 2016 election. He also included the former Apprentice host in his controversial “Famous” music video.
Their meeting, however, has since brought back to life Trump’s past derogatory comments about West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, who supported Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton throughout the election. During a 2013 interview with Howard Stern, Trump body-shamed the then-pregnant reality star, calling her a “bit large” and stating that she shouldn’t “dress like [she] weighs 120 pounds.”
