What's a Kanye West performance without a rant? The 39-year-old rapper responded to the critics of his Yeezy Season 4 fashion show during a mini-concert at the Harper's Bazaar Icons by Carine Roitfeld event in New York City on Friday, September 9.
Surrounded by smoke and orange lights, West hit the stage at the Plaza Hotel to perform several of his hits, including "Famous," "All of the Lights" and "Touch the Sky." He then performed "Runaway" (complete with the infamous line "Let's have a toast for the douchebags") and repeatedly stuck up his middle finger before addressing the star-studded crowd.
"At the beginning of this performance, I tried my best to not try. No, I tried to listen to all the reports and s–t and I tried my best to stop trying," he said in reference to the mixed reviews his New York Fashion Week show received. "But I just couldn't do it! I couldn't stop. No matter what they write, I just couldn't stop."
The Chicago native then thanked the audience at the event (sponsored by Infor, Laura Mercier and Stella Artois) for supporting his transition from rapper to fashion designer, saying, "I appreciate y'all going on this journey for me. I appreciate all the years y'all put up with me learning in front of you and listening to the music at the same time."
TGIF (U) @kanyewest #BazaarIcons pic.twitter.com/65J7qAbsMd
— Ali Puliti (@APuliti) September 10, 2016
After giving a shout-out to Roitfeld, the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, West dropped his microphone and walked off the stage as the crowd cheered. (Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner and Tyga were all in attendance.)
As Us Weekly previously reported, the "Waves" rapper unveiled his Yeezy Season 4 fashion line at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on New York's Roosevelt Island on Wednesday, September 7. The show was panned by critics for starting two hours later than scheduled and for leaving dozens of models standing in the heat, at least one of whom passed out.
The Kardashian-Jenner clan's close pal Jonathan Cheban, however, stood up for West during an interview with Us Weekly at Friday's Harper's Bazaar party.
"There are shows and there's concerts and people pass out outside in the fields and, you know, it is what it is," the reality star told Us. "[West] creates from his heart and, to him, it's really, like, a big deal. I don't know if he's affected too much by what other people say because, you know what, everything still sells out. Pop-ups all over the world, there's thousands of people. You wanna show me a designer who can do that? Nobody. … Kanye is an enterprise and I'm so happy to be part of the whole ride."
Cheban also explained that he thought the models who passed out were a part of the show. "For me, I felt bad, but you know what it is, it's a show in the heat," he explained. "Don't take the job if you know you're gonna sit out in the heat. And it's like, of course I feel terrible for them, but people criticizing it, it's like, screw you. These bloggers that I've read about, like, 'Bitch don't come, and next year you're still going to be begging for that ticket.'"
