According to Akon, Kanye West’s recent interviews have been “irresponsible,” and the American rapper is currently “not in the proper place.”
The Senegalese-American singer sought to clarify recent remarks in which he seemed to support the rapper’s viewpoints by stating that he deplores all forms of hatred.
It follows an interview West gave with American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones last week in which he praised Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party. West has since legally changed his name to Ye.
West’s close buddy Akon previously told Sky News that he was unconcerned by the rapper’s most recent remarks because “they do not personally touch me.”
But in an interview with Channel 4 News, he said that queries concerning the rapper had caught him off guard and that his comments had been misinterpreted.
“That answer wasn’t based on what it was painted to be,” Akon told Channel 4. You know, Kanye makes a remark every day. You can’t keep up with all the offensive remarks that he’s making.
“And I felt that it was very unfair to take that one remark and apply it to my answer when I had no idea that’s what he said 24 hours ago.”
Asked about his relationship with West, he replied: “I know him personally. I don’t believe he’s in the right place.
“Honestly, it’s very irresponsible to interview him, I don’t believe that anything he says people should take to heart. Anyone that knows me knows that me and Kanye are nowhere near the same.
“We have totally different views. I would never, in any circumstance, hold the same position as Kanye in that matter. It wasn’t him that I was supporting. It was the opinion of people and having the right to have your own opinion. I didn’t know that it was going to be connected to something that he specifically said.
“I condemn hate. Period. I don’t care who – if my mother hated, I wouldn’t agree with my mum.”
Following a series of odd tweets, including one that looked to depict a symbol combining a swastika and a Jewish star, West’s Twitter account was suspended last week for breaking the social media platform’s policy against encouraging violence.
His earlier anti-Semitic comments led to the dissolution of lucrative alliances, notably one with the German sportswear company Adidas.