Kanye West is easily one of the most controversial humans in existence. But, at the same time, some describe his craziness as a borderline genius! However, there still have been Kanye West moments that had us all questioning his actual sanity – especially in the past two years.
So, just for fun, we’ve decided to create a compilation of the top 5 craziest, most outrageous, most controversial moments. Now, it was pretty hard to limit everything to just five little moments. The man is the biggest reason for Twitter bans and Instagram account restrictions. All of which makes it pretty hard to pick the truly unforgettable ones. However, we’re pretty sure these take the cake.
From crashing award speeches to anti-Semitism comments online… Let’s jump right into high-quality Kanye West content!
Unforgettable & Controversial Kanye West Moments
#1 VMA SPEECH ‘09
First, we have to start this list of controversial Kanye West moments with THE MOMENT. During the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift won an award for Best Female Video. She had barely gotten up the stage when Kanye West RUSHED the stage, GRABBED the mic, and AIRED his objections. He said:
“I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”
And we gotta say, the results of this Kanye West moment in history were EXPLOSIVE. Granted, we should have expected something like this to come. Especially since the artist arrived on the red carpet with a bottle of Hennessy in hand. MTV removed the official footage off the internet so all we could find was some low-quality bootleg. But, it’s worth witnessing such a moment in history!
#2 KANYE GOES OFF SCRIPT
During a live TV fundraiser for the victims of Hurricane Katrina days after the storm, Kanye decided to go rogue. Apparently, the word on the teleprompter was more like “suggestions” for Ye. However, this did make one of the strangest and most controversial Kanye West moments. He ditched the script and went on a minute-long political diatribe blasting the media’s portrayal of Katrina’s black victims. He also added,
“George Bush doesn’t care about black people”
It must have been pretty awkward for the co-presenter, Mike Myers, who just looked straight ahead with a dead face. But, the producer had to butt in when the comment about George Bush came out.
#3 AIDS AWARENESS
And then, there’s another Kanye West moment that’s purely controversial and weird at most. In 2005, there was a live 8-concert tour intended to raise awareness of global poverty and AIDS. it was a HUGE hit and drew in over 3 BILLION people all over the world. But then, during the Philadelphia tour, Kanye decided to do his own version of raising awareness. Here’s what he had to say:
“[AIDS is] a man-made disease. [It was] placed in Africa just like crack was placed in the black community to break up the Black Panthers.”
And, if people didn’t catch that statement at that time, he found a way to say it again. In the lyrics of his 2005 hit “Heard’Em Say”, Kanye says: “And I know the government administered AIDS, So I guess we just pray like the minister say”
#4 KANYE WEST URGENT NEED
Also, there’s another Kanye West moment we can’t seem to ever forget. It is the moment during the Conan O’Brien show on NBC’s Late Night when Kanye disclosed a certain urge. While he was in deep conversation with the host, all of a sudden Ye felt he needed to make an announcement… one that he couldn’t “hold in” any longer! He said:
“Sidebar: I have to use the bathroom really, really bad.”
Naturally, Conan was surprised, to say the least. However, he still made it work and pull it off. And, he actually did get him a bathroom eventually. We can’t really blame Kanye though. When you gotta go… you gotta go!
#5 KANYE x ADIDAS BREAKUP
Finally, the last one on this list of controversial Kanye West moments is the most recent one. This is more like a cluster of moments, not just a single moment. This started with Kanye claiming that Adidas can not and will not drop him no matter what he says or do… even if he says anti-semitism comments. He was pretty mistaken since Adidas dropped Ye a little while after that.
Other incidents leading up to this madness include Kanye bashing and bullying his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s now ex-boyfriend, Pete Davidson. It also includes Ye going completely under the radar and basically missing for months. AND THEN, coming back to the scene with a new wife! Talk about problematic!
KANYE WEST ADVICE
Marriage Advice
“If you ain’t no punk, holla we want prenup/WE WANT PRENUP!/It’s something that you need to have/’Cause when she leave yo ass, she gonna leave with half.”
— “Gold Digger,” Late Registration, 2005
Kanye West Math Lessons
“I am the number one human being in music. That means any person that’s living or breathing is number two.”
— via The Wendy Williams Show, 2007
School Advice
“What’s a B+ mean? I’m an extremist, its either pass or fail! A+ or F-! You know what, f–k you and the whole f–king staff!”
— blogged in response to a concert review in Entertainment Weekly, 2008
Dealing with Pain
“My greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live.”
— via VH1 Storytellers, 2009
Kanye West on Being Humble
“Kim doesn’t understand what a blessing I am to her.”
— via Twitter