Grammys drop Kanye from performance lineup due to 'concerning online behavior'

Kanye West has been dropped from the performance lineup for the upcoming Grammy Awards due to his "concerning online behavior," the Yeezus rapper's rep told Variety.

Variety speculated that, if allowed to perform, West "might use the stage to continue his online harassment of Pete Davidson, his estranged wife Kim Kardashian's new boyfriend." Earlier this month, West released a claymation video for his song "Eazy," which depicts him kidnapping Davidson, burying him, and holding his severed head.

Kardashian, who dropped the last name "West" after a court declared her legally single, has previously warned West that his handling of the divorce is "creating a dangerous and scary environment," The Guardian reported.

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The Grammys are set to air on April 3. West has been nominated for Album of the Year (for his own DONDA and separately for his production work on Lil Nas X's Montero), Best Rap Album (DONDA), Best Rap Song ("Jail"), and Best Melodic Rap Performance ("Hurricane").

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This news hits just as Kanye comes off of a 24-hour suspension from Instagram earlier this week. The Meta-owned app put Kanye's account in time-out after he directed a racial slur at Daily Show host Trevor Noah, who said Ye's behavior toward his estranged wife "shines a spotlight on what so many women go through when they choose to leave."

Noah wrote that the slur — which has a meaning similar to "Uncle Tom" and which Kanye hurled at him in the form of re-written song lyrics — was "funny as s--t" but that Black people should not "strip each other of our blackness whenever we disagree."

Noah also wrote, "I see you on a path that's dangerously close to peril and pain ... I've woken up too many times and read headlines about men who've killed their exes, their kids, and then themselves. I never want to read that headline about you."

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Grayson Quay

Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-GazetteModern AgeThe American ConservativeThe Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.