Kanye West defended Marilyn Manson against #MeToo in the worst way possible
His Drink Champs interview is proof he has no idea what he’s talking about.
Ye may have disavowed the Kanye West name, but he didn’t lose any of the Kanye West controversy. In his first extensive interview in months, West justified aligning himself with homophobic DaBaby and accused abuser Marilyn Manson by anointing himself a leader none of us chose.
In late August, during the third and final listening event for his album Donda, Ye stood on the steps of a replica of his childhood home with Marilyn Manson and DaBaby flanking him as the trio debuted their song “Jail pt. 2.” In front of 38,000 people in attendance at Soldier Field Stadium in Chicago and more viewers live streaming on Apple Music, West gave a man who spread HIV misinformation on stage in July, and a disgraced rockstar who was facing four sexual assault accusations by then, their biggest public showing since those controversies in a sign of misguided solidarity. West didn’t explain his heinous decision until last night’s interview on Drink Champs, where he gave the most Kanye West justification he could.
During his chat with hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, the artist formerly known as Kanye West proudly stated he stood next to Manson and DaBaby for five songs because “they can’t cancel us all,” as if his celebrity is a shield from accountability. He unloaded this reasoning when he detailed a conversation he had with Ms. Lauryn Hill telling her he’s the leader, to which Ms. Hill clarified to him he’s simply a leader. Delusions of grandeur aside, his most insidious logic was reserved for sexual assault victims and the “cancel culture” which protects them from alleged abusers like Manson.
“They’ll hit you with an accusation from somebody you were with 10 years ago. There are women who have been through serious things — pulled in alleys against their will. That’s different than a hug, but it’s classified as the same thing,” Ye said.
In the deluded mind of Ye, the terms of rape and sexual assault are only reserved for the most violent and vile attacks on women. To him, the 42% of women who reported experiencing unwanted sexual advances over a 12-month period shouldn’t get the same attention or compassion as women who were violently assaulted. Not only does his line of thinking follow a grossly narrow-minded perception of sexual assault that has precluded many women from having their claims taken seriously, but it is also blatantly hypocritical given who he’s aligned himself with publicly.
Manson has been accused of sexual assault acts that fit Ye’s criteria of sexual assault. Evan Rachel Wood accused Manson of “raping what he believed to be my unconscious body.” Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco detailed how Manson assaulted her during sex and imprisoned her in his sphere of influence, including once chasing her around with an ax. Mason’s ex-girlfriend Ashley Morgan Smithline said he cut and whipped her while they dated. She went as far as to claim Manson “made it clear that my life was definitely in danger and that he could kill me at any time.”
Constructing hierarchies of sexual assault is a cowardly attempt to evade accountability by implicitly painting some victims’ claims as overreacting by pitting them against other claims that resulted in more bodily harm. West doubles down on his abuser apologist justification by comparing the #MeToo movement and the public’s disdain for abusers like Manson as “1984 mind control,” referencing George Orwell’s dystopian novel about totalitarian governments controlling society. And instead of pushing back at that ridiculous assertion, DJ EFN adds to Ye’s point by comparing it to “mob mentality.”
N.O.R.E. later said Drink Champs is a podcast about giving people their flowers before telling Ye how much he and the culture love him. That’s why Ye went on the massively popular Drink Champs — because no matter if he’s siding with abusers, revealing he still has his Make America Great Again hat, or lesser offenses such as disavowing himself from the artists who made his G.O.O.D. Music label a success or continuing his jealousy-fueled beef with Drake, he wouldn’t face any backlash. As a matter of fact, he would even receive a round of applause.
