Hot 97 host Ebro Darden on his show yesterday (April 23, 2018) reported a 30-minute phone conversation with Kanye West, who affirmed that he loves Donald Trump and also revealed he had suffered through an opioid addiction.
The conversation was sparked by a Instagram post by Darden, who posted a Coachella image of Beyoncé on which he wrote in the caption, “Now we know why they don’t do play dates.”
Darden’s description was a response to West’s recent tweets championing conservative social media personality Candace Owens and a reference to West’s complaints at a 2016 concert in Seattle that Beyoncé and Jay-Z don’t allow their children to play together.
The comment sparked a phone call with West creative associate Tracey Mills, a conversation that West chimed in on.
In the exchange, Darden said he told West he’s making controversial statements in a “cooning for cash” effort to promote his new music. West asserted his main goal is to deprogram people and have them think differently. He noted the only reason he likes Owens is because she challenges conventional black thought.
Darden then dropped a bomb when he revealed West was upset that nobody expressed sympathy when he was suffering through an opioid addiction. “Nobody showed love for me when I was addicted to opioids and in the hospital,” said Ebro, who pushed back, siting multiple people who attempted to come to his aid.
Multiple times through the conversation, Darden said Kanye stated, “I just want to lead with love.” Ebro said he pushed back, saying the people his aligning himself with don’t lead with love. According to Ebro, West then went on to say, “I love Donald Trump.”
Ebro noted he’s a longtime West fan, but believes the rapper is out of touch, telling him, “You live in a bubble in Calabasas around a lot of rich people and it’s rubbed off on you ’cause you’re not in touch.”
West pointed out Barack Obama wouldn’t work with him while Trump gave him a meeting. Darden again countered, noting that West didn’t get a real meeting.
Check out the segment below.