Kanye West was hit with backlash from many, including Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, over the “White Lives Matter” shirts that were worn in his Yeezy fashion show. Ye has since referred to Johnson as his “sister,” while addressing the situation.
Kanye said on Instagram, “GABBY IS MY SISTER. IM NOT LETTING PEOPLE GO TO BED THINKING I DIDN’T MEET WITH GABRIELLE AT 5 PM TODAY FOR 2 HOURS THEN WE WENT TO DINNER AT FERDIE (a popular Italian restaurant in New York City). WE APOLOGIZED TO EACH OTHER FOR THE WAY WE MADE EACH OTHER FEEL WE ACTUALLY GOT ALONG AND HAVE BOTH EXPERIENCED THE FIGHT FOR ACCEPTANCE IN A WORLD THAT’S NOT OUR OWN. SHE DISAGREED I DISAGREED WE DISAGREED. AT LEAST WE BOTH LOVE FERDIE AND FASHION.”
It all started when Johnson criticized Ye's WLM shirts, saying, “I’m fuming… collecting my thoughts … I guess I get what he tried to do– he thought it was duchampian. It wasn’t. It didn’t land and it was deeply offensive, violent and dangerous. There is no excuse, there is no art here. I do think if you asked Kanye, he’d say there was art, and revolution, and all of the things in that t-shirt. There isn’t.”
Ye responded to Johnson and said, “This is not a fashion person,” while sharing a photo of Johnson.
Vogue also stepped in to defend Johnson, releasing a statement that said, “Vogue stands with Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, our global fashion editor at large and longtime contributor. She was personally targeted and bullied. It is unacceptable. Now more than ever, voices like hers are needed and in a private meeting with Ye today she once again spoke her truth in a way she felt best, on her terms.”
LAURYN HILL'S DAUGHTER RESPONDS TO 'WLM' SHIRT BACKLASH
Lauryn Hill's daughter, Selah Marley, has responded to the backlash she received after wearing the WLM shirt in Kanye's fashion show.
Selah wrote on IG, “The past 24 hours as allowed me to realize that most of yall are stuck in a hive mentality. You do what the group tells you to do and think what the group tells you to think. Witnessing someone break free from ‘the agenda’ sends you all into such a panic that you will do whatever it takes to force them back into the box that you feel they should exist in.”
She added, “You cannot bully me, manipulate me, or coax me into silence. Nor will you bully me into being who I don’t want to be. I don’t care how many tweets you make, DMs you send, or articles you write.”