John Legend revealed on the most recent episode of “The Axe Files” podcast that he and Kanye West are no longer close friends after the two had a falling out over West’s politics. Speaking to host David Axelrod, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, Legend said he disagreed with West’s decisions to support Donald Trump and to run for office himself.
“Let me ask you about your relationship with him,” Axelrod said (via Mediaite). “I know you’re friends still, but he’s, you know, his behavior and his politics, I guess — his politics are much different or have been much different than yours?”
“Well, you know, we aren’t friends as much as we used to be because I honestly think because we publicly disagreed on his running for office, his supporting Trump, I think it became, uh, too much for us to sustain our friendship, honestly,” Legend said. “He was upset that I didn’t support his run for presidency of the United States of America for understandable reasons.”
“You weren’t alone in that by the way,” Axelrod noted.
“I wasn’t alone in that, but, you know, he was not happy about that. And we really haven’t been close since then,” Legend continued.
When asked what people “don’t understand” about West, Legend answered, “Well, I think people get a lot about him. I think he’s been very open with who he is and his struggles with mental health and he’s very real, honestly.”
” I think there’s not a lot about him that people don’t get, like he’s been pretty upfront with his opinions, his struggles, all the things that he’s dealing with,” Legend added. “And I think what you see with him is pretty much what you get. I don’t feel like he’s a whole separate person in private than he is in public. I think you’re pretty much seeing the real Kanye publicly.”
West played a large role in launching Legend’s career, signing him to his G.O.O.D. Music label and releasing and serving as executive producer of Legend’s 2004 debut album, “Get Lifted.” The two have collaborated multiple times over the years, including Legend’s single “It’s Over.” They’ve also been featured together on other artists’ tracks such as Big Sean’s “One Man Can Change the World” and Dilated Peoples’ “This Way.”
