Listen to this story being read by Adrienne Tam, here.
Here's how a story about Kanye "Ye" West inevitably unfolds:
1. West does something shocking.
2. There is outrage at the shocking thing West has done.
3. West retaliates on social media against those who oppose him.
4. Now people are outraged at how West has responded to the outrage.
5. West deletes his posts from his social media or backtracks on his stance or writes/says something completely contradictory to his initial claim.
6. West gets off scot-free.
7. Rinse, wash, repeat.
This cycle of gaslighting and bullying behaviour from the musician can be seen as far back as 13 years ago, when he stepped up to the 2009 MTV Video Awards stage and told Taylor Swift - in a line that has become part of the vernacular - "I'mma let you finish, but Beyonce had the best video of all time" to this week, where he and conservative political commentator Candace Owens wore "White Lives Matter" shirts at the prestigious Paris Fashion Week. Some of his models also wore "White Lives Matter" shirts as they paraded his clothing line down the catwalk.
It echoed the times he wore a Make America Great Again (MAGA) cap, and a jacket emblazoned with confederate imagery.
During his opening speech at his fashion show, West said, "I am Ye, and everyone knows I am the leader". Following his show, he wrote on Instagram, "Everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam now it's over you're welcome."
The fact that their meeting was apparently filmed by Baz Luhrmann at the request of Wintour speaks to how ridiculous this entire affair is - and just how out of touch people at Wintour's level are.
And so, here we are again: Stage 6 of "This is how the story goes" - the part where West gets off scot-free. There will be rumblings for a little while longer and then... nothing.
No repercussions, no consequences.
Rinse, wash, repeat.
Now, I am not going to downplay the role West's bipolar diagnosis plays in how the musician conducts himself. Bipolar disorder is a serious illness. But I will say this: We cannot keep excusing West's behaviour because of his diagnosis. We cannot keep wagging our figurative finger at him when he does something awful. There is real-world hurt due to his words and actions.
There has to be a line in the sand.
And in my opinion, we have reached that line.
It's possible that you could look at the feud with Swift, which has gone on for years, and let it go. It's Taylor Swift, after all - she's going to be just fine. She has more talent in her little finger than West will be ever know - yeah, that's right, I said it and I stand by it.
It's possible you could just laugh off his other "beefs" with other celebrities - be it Pete Davidson, Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Lorde, Drake, Justin Timberlake, Amber Rose, Jimmy Kimmel, John Legend, 50 Cent and of course, Noah. You could look at all the headlines dedicated to these (mostly) one-sided feuds and just let it go. That's just Ye being Ye.
But this is different. This blatant disregard of the racism Black people experience harkens back to the time West said, "Slavery is a choice." That this was said by a Black man himself, someone so powerful, someone so revered in certain circles, someone whose platform matters, boggles the mind. Why this need to pander to the conservative crowd? Why this need to embolden racists? Why this need to be betray his fellow people of colour?
As a Chinese woman, I've seen this kind of internalised racism before. I've experienced it myself. It's a complicated, terrible feeling, compounded by both traditional and social media.
Some part of me thinks this is all a game to West. A way to just keep his name alive, because that's how narcissists thrive. And thrive he will. His extremely expensive shoes will still be bought. His clothes will still sell, yes, including those "White Lives Matter" shirts. His music will still be listened to. His "Sunday church sessions" will still be full. His 31 million Twitter followers and 18 million Instagram fans will still cling to every word he says.
"You can't manage me," West said in his speech at the Paris Fashion Week show. "This is an unmanageable situation."
But what is the true cost of this situation? Hate, fear-mongering, racism, violence... that's the price.
And you can be sure that West isn't the one who will pay.
Feature image: Getty/Instagram.
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