What did Kanye West say about Trevor Noah? Racial slur, Instagram suspension and Pete Davidson feud explained

It has been confirmed that Kanye West will not be performing at the upcoming Grammy Awards due to his “concerning online behaviour”.

The news comes after the rapper was handed a 24 hour suspension from his Instagram account, after his most recent online outburst.

The rapper, who has been using Instagram to publicly attack Pete Davidson and attempt to win back ex-wife Kim Kardashian, referred to Daily Show host Trevor Noah with a racial slur in a post that has since been deleted by the platform.

This is everything you need to know.

What’s going on with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian?

After nearly seven years of marriage, Kardashian filed for divorce from West in February of last year, and she was recently declared legally single on 2 March. She has since been dating SNL star and comedian Pete Davidson.

West and Kardashian have four children together - North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm. Kardashian has said that she wants “nothing but a healthy and supportive co-parenting relationship” with West, however “Kanye continues to make it impossible every step of the way”.

West has been attempting to win Kardashian back through frequent and increasingly elaborate public gestures and social media statements, and has been very vocal about his dislike of Davidson, repeatedly using social media to attack the comedian.

The rapper has attracted criticism for his actions during this time, with many labelling his behaviour as stalking, harassment and abuse.

Kardashian spoke out against West in a statement in February, which said: “Divorce is difficult enough on our children and Kanye’s obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly is only causing further pain for all.”

What did Trevor Noah say?

In a segment on The Daily Show, host Trevor Noah took some time to discuss the ongoing situation regarding Kardashian, West and Davidson.

Noah addressed West’s treatment of Kardasian on The Daily Show, where he said: “What [Kardashian] is going through is terrifying to watch, and it shines a spotlight on what so many women go through when they choose to leave.”

The host made comparisons to West’s situation with Kardashian with his own experiences witnessing abuse as a child. He explained that people had said his mother, Patricia, was “overreacting” before his stepfather shot her in the head. Patricia survived the attempted murder.

He said: “As a society, we have to ask ourselves questions. Do we wish to stand by and watch a car crash when we thought we saw it coming?”

Noah ended the segment by saying: “All I’m saying about this story is, if Kim cannot escape this, Kim Kardashian, if she cannot escape this, then what chance do normal women have?”

What did Kanye West say about Trevor Noah?

In a post which has since been deleted by Instagram, West responded to Noah discussing his behaviour by using racial slurs.

He posted a picture of Noah with the caption: “All together now… K**n baya my lord k**n baya k**n baya my lord K**n baya Oooo’ lord K**n baya.”

The racial slur that West used in the caption is an offensive and derogatory term used to refer to a Black person.

How did Trevor Noah respond?

Noah replied to West in the comments of the post before it was taken down, where he said that West’s behaviour “breaks [his] heart”.

He wrote: “There are few artists who have had more of an impact on me than you Ye. You took samples and turned them into symphonies.

“You took your pain and through the wire turned it into performance perfection. I thought differently about how I spend my money because of you, I learned to protect my child-like creativity from grown thoughts because of you, s**t I still smile every time I put on my seatbelt because of you.”

“You’re an indelible part of my life Ye. Which is why it breaks my heart to see you like this.

“I don’t care if you support Trump and I don’t care if you roast Pete. I do however care when I see you on a path that’s dangerously close to peril and pain.

“You have every right to fight for your family. But you have to know the difference between that and fighting your family.

“If you’re just joking about it all and I’m an idiot for caring, then so be it. But I’d rather be the idiot who spoke up.”

Noah added: “Oh and as for k**n…clearly some people graduate but we still stupid.

“Don’t ever forget, the biggest trick racists ever played on black people was teaching us to strip each other of our blackness whenever we disagree.

“Tricking us into dividing ourselves up into splinters so that we would never unite into a powerful rod.”

How long was Kanye West’s Instagram account been suspended for?

West was handed a 24 hour temporary suspension following his post about Noah. His suspension has since expired.

Meta, Instagram’s parent company, suspended his account as his posts were considered a violation of Instagram’s policies on hate speech, harassment and bullying.

Per the terms of his suspension, the rapper was unable to post, comment, send messages or otherwise use his account for 24 hours.

A Meta spokesperson has said that “additional steps” will be taken if West continues to violate the terms of the platform.

What has Kanye West said about Pete Davidson?

All of West’s Instagram has been completely wiped, including all of his posts about Davidson, whom West refers to as “Skete”.

In one post, which has since been deleted, West posted a screenshot of an article about Davidson, with the headline “Pete Davidson enrages audience with jokes about having sex with a baby”.

West wrote in the caption: “Yet another reason why SKETE gotta stay away from my children Oh and nobody noticed that he ain’t show up to SNL because Mr. I can help you with meds had a mental breakdown after we ran him off the internet SKETE you not built for this I already blacked the Super Bowl out on you Apologize to your family for being in your family.”

In another post, West wrote: “I’m really concerned that SKETE will get my kids mom hooked on drugs He’s in rehab every 2 months.”

Shortly after Kardashian was legally emancipated from West, the rapper released a video for his song Easy, which depicted a claymation version of West kidnapping, tying up and burying from the neck down a figure that resembles Davidson.

West also directly references Davidson in the song as well, at one point rapping: “God saved me from that car crash just so I can beat Pete Davidson’s ass.”

The video then ends with the message: “Everyone livd [sic] happily ever after… except Skete.

“JK he’s fine.”

West also references Davidson in another song, Fivio Foreign’s single City of God, in which he says: “This afternoon, a hundred goons pullin’ up to SNL, when I pull up, it’s dead on arrival.”

The rapper has made a number of posts about Davidson on his Instagram which have since been deleted.

Has Kanye West been barred from the Grammy Awards?

A representative of West has confirmed reports that he has been barred from performing at the Grammy Awards show this year, following his “concerning online behaviour”.

West, who is up for five awards at the ceremony this year, had not previously been confirmed as a performer at the upcoming awards show, set to take place on 4 April.

According to a report in The Blast, sources said that the rapper’s team had received a call from the organisers of the Grammys which said that he had been pulled from the lineup.

The news outlet states that the decision was made, in part, due to the fact that Trevor Noah will be hosting the ceremony.

Responding to the news, Noah said that he had “nothing to do” with West being pulled from the show.

A source close to Noah reportedly told CNN: “Trevor never asked the Grammys to ban Kanye from performing. He was not offended by Kanye’s Instagram post and Trevor responded on Instagram.

“The notion that Trevor or his team asked the Grammys to ban Kanye is ridiculous.”

Noah also tweeted on Sunday (20 March): “I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye.”

What’s going on with Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian?

Following her split from West, Kardashian has since started dating Davidson, who referred to the reality star as his girlfriend for the first time recently.

In an interview with People TV in which he talked about his fame, Davidson said: “I don’t really have Instagram - I don’t have Instagram or Twitter or any of that stuff. So, most of my daily life is getting into cars and showing up to a set.

“Or, if I’m off, I just either hang with my friends or chill with my girlfriend inside. So I don’t do much.”

Kardashian has also told the Ellen DeGeneres show that Davidson had her name branded onto his chest as “he wanted to do something that was really different”.

As well as the branding, Davidson also has numerous tattoos dedicated to his new girlfriend. Kardashian said that her favourite one says “My girl is a lawyer”, referring to the fact that she is studying to be a lawyer.

She announced in December last year that she passed the “baby bar” which is the first of two exams required to qualify in the state of California.

Further details about the couple’s relationship are set to be revealed when the new reality show The Kardashians airs in April.

Despite growing tensions and his attacks on Davidson, Kardashian said that she will not speak negatively about the father of her four children on the show.

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