John Legend admits political differences ‘became too much’ for friendship with Kanye West

John Legend has admitted that his and Kanye West’s political differences made them unable to “sustain (their) friendship”.

The musicians worked together on each other’s debut albums and became close friends, with John even signing to Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music label. However, their friendship began to crack when Kanye showed support for then-U.S. President Donald Trump and they grew even further apart after John failed to support the rapper’s bid for the presidency in 2020.

“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 too much for us to sustain our friendship, honestly,” John shared on The Axe Files podcast.

The All of Me singer, who is a firm Democrat, added that Kanye was upset when he didn’t publicly back his run for office.

“I wasn’t alone in that, but, you know, he was not happy about that,” John recalled. “And we really haven’t been close since then.”

Kanye criticised John for his lack of support on the Drink Champs podcast last year, saying, “That’s some sellout s**t… I need my apologies”.

Despite not being close friends anymore, the singer praised Kanye for being transparent about who he is in public.

“I think he’s been very open with who he is and his struggles with mental health. And he’s very real, honestly. So I think there’s not a lot about him that people don’t get,” John said. “Like he’s been pretty upfront with his opinions, his struggles, all the things that he’s dealing with. And I think what you see with him is pretty much what you get.”