Kanye West Says He Had COVID-19, Comes Out as Anti-Vaxxer: 5 ‘Forbes’ Interview Revelations

Credit: Evan Vucci/AP/Shutterstock

Kanye West Says He Had COVID-19, Comes Out as Anti-Vaxxer: 5 ‘Forbes’ Interview Revelations

Yeezy has spoken. Days after announcing his White House bid, Kanye West discussed everything from his political ambitions to the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccinations in an explosive new interview. While speaking with Forbes, the rapper, 43, admitted that, despite his sudden interest in running for office, he has never voted in his life. In fact, he was not even a registered voter until Monday, July 6. “The reason why this is the first day I registered to vote is because I was scared,” West said over what the magazine described as “four rambling hours” of phone interviews from his ranch near Cody, Wyoming, on Tuesday, July 7. “I was told that if I voted on [Donald] Trump my music career would be over. I was threatened into being in one party. I was threatened as a celebrity into being in one party. I was threatened as a Black man into the Democratic party.” [jwplayer yi9i20PY] The sneaker designer tweeted on Saturday, July 4, that he is “running for president of the United States” in 2020. However, with only four months until Election Day, he has yet to officially file campaign paperwork. With that said, West has a plan in mind. He noted to Forbes that he has the support of his wife, Kim Kardashian, and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, both of whom tweeted support for him on Saturday. “We’ve been talking about this for years,” he said of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, 49. “I proposed to him to be the head of our space program.” And while West’s sudden political venture has raised many a eyebrows, he denied that it is a publicity stunt for his upcoming album, God’s Country. (The lead single, “Wash Us in the Blood” featuring Travis Scott, dropped on June 30.) “I give my album away for free,” the billionaire insisted. Scroll down for five revelations from West’s interview with Forbes.

Credit: Evan Vucci/AP/Shutterstock

Kanye West Says He Had COVID-19, Comes Out as Anti-Vaxxer: 5 ‘Forbes’ Interview Revelations

Yeezy has spoken. Days after announcing his White House bid, Kanye West discussed everything from his political ambitions to the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccinations in an explosive new interview. While speaking with Forbes, the rapper, 43, admitted that, despite his sudden interest in running for office, he has never voted in his life. In fact, he was not even a registered voter until Monday, July 6. “The reason why this is the first day I registered to vote is because I was scared,” West said over what the magazine described as “four rambling hours” of phone interviews from his ranch near Cody, Wyoming, on Tuesday, July 7. “I was told that if I voted on [Donald] Trump my music career would be over. I was threatened into being in one party. I was threatened as a celebrity into being in one party. I was threatened as a Black man into the Democratic party.” [jwplayer yi9i20PY] The sneaker designer tweeted on Saturday, July 4, that he is “running for president of the United States” in 2020. However, with only four months until Election Day, he has yet to officially file campaign paperwork. With that said, West has a plan in mind. He noted to Forbes that he has the support of his wife, Kim Kardashian, and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, both of whom tweeted support for him on Saturday. “We’ve been talking about this for years,” he said of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, 49. “I proposed to him to be the head of our space program.” And while West’s sudden political venture has raised many a eyebrows, he denied that it is a publicity stunt for his upcoming album, God’s Country. (The lead single, “Wash Us in the Blood” featuring Travis Scott, dropped on June 30.) “I give my album away for free,” the billionaire insisted. Scroll down for five revelations from West’s interview with Forbes.

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1. He Had COVID-19

The Grammy winner told the publication that he battled the novel coronavirus in February. “Chills, shaking in the bed, taking hot showers, looking at videos telling me what I’m supposed to do to get over it,” he said. “I remember someone had told me Drake had the coronavirus and my response was, ‘Drake can’t be sicker than me!’” (Drake, 33, announced in March that his test results came back negative.)

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2. He Is Against Vaccines

Going against scientific studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West told Forbes that he believes vaccines are “the mark of the beast.” He explained, “It’s so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed. … So when they say the way we’re going to fix COVID is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious. … They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven. I’m sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them. And the sad thing is that, the saddest thing is that we all won’t make it to heaven, that there’ll be some of us that do not make it.”

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3. He Has Chosen a Running Mate and a Campaign Slogan

The entertainer revealed that his vice president would be Michelle Tidball, a little-known preacher from Wyoming. He said that he plans to run under what he called the Birthday Party (“Because when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday”) and his campaign slogan will be “YES!”

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4. He No Longer Supports Trump

West, who has been a vocal supporter of the incumbent president since 2016, announced on Tuesday that he is “taking the red hat off.” Still, he called the former Celebrity Apprentice host, 74, “special” while dubbing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden “not special.”

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5. He Is Pro-Life

The “Gold Digger” performer — who shares North, 7, Saint, 4, Chicago, 2, and Psalm, 13 months, with Kardashian, 39 — told Forbes that he is “pro-life because I’m following the word of the Bible.” He also said he believes that “Planned Parenthoods have been placed inside cities by white supremacists to do the Devil’s work.”