Kanye Going MAGA ruined their friendship

• John Legend says his friendship with Kanye West soured when West started supporting Trump.
• Legend said they publicly disagreed over West’s MAGA support and West’s run for office.
• Legend said that “it’s too much for us to maintain our friendship.”

John Legend said Thursday that his friendship with Kanye West has broken down since the latter began supporting former President Donald Trump.

Legend told podcast host David Axelrod the August 4th episode of “The Ax Files” that his longtime friendship with the rapper had fallen apart.

West — who officially changed his name to Ye last year — made headlines in 2018 when he began endorsing Trump. saying that wearing the MAGA hat made him feel like Superman. West also said at the time that he supports Trump because they both have “dragon energy.”

West met with Trump at the White House, where was photographed hugging Trump. The rapper continued to voice his support for Trump in 2020.

Separately, West said in July 2020 that he was candidate for presidentbut lost it registration deadline be a candidate on the ballot in at least four states;

On the podcast, Legend said he and West “disagree publicly about his candidacy, his support for Trump, I think it’s become too much for us to maintain our friendship, honestly.”

Legend also said West was upset with him for not supporting his presidential run, which Axelrod said he wasn’t “alone.”

“I wasn’t alone in that, but, you know, he wasn’t happy about it. And we really haven’t been close since,” replied Legend.

Legend, however, said he believed West was “very real,” citing the latter’s honesty with “who he is and his struggles with mental health.

“So I think there’s not much about him that people don’t understand,” Legend said of West. “Like, he was pretty biased with his views, his struggles, all the things that he’s into. And I think what you see with him is pretty much what you get.”

Legend and West openly feuded in April 2018 over West’s tweets about his political views. Legend messaged West asking to chat about race and politics, but West — on several occasions — took pictures of those texts and shared them on social media.

In response, Legend posted a thread on Twitter on race and US politics that he concluded with: “I love that great, brilliant artists have the power to imagine a better future. But artists can’t be blind to the truth.”

Chrissy Teigen, Legend’s wife, said in September 2018 that her husband and West had squashed their beef, but that Legend “still stands by everything he said.”

Reps for West and Legend did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.