Times Kanye West Was Over The Top

"Wait 'til I get my money right ... then you can't tell me nothing, right?" These lyrics are from Kanye (Ye) West's 2007 hit "Can't Tell Me Nothing," released off of his third studio album, "Graduation." In many ways, the "Jesus is King" rapper was predicting the future. West had his moment when Forbes declared him a billionaire in 2020, crediting a chunk of his fortune to his Yeezy collaboration with Adidas. Since then, no one has been able to tell him nothing. He's expanding his empire, and doing it the Ye way.

But West didn't have to be a billionaire to start forging his own path. Long before he was minting millions from selling sneakers, West was independent and uncontrollable. It all started at the 2005 Grammys, when — upon bagging the Best Rap Album award — West's speech said, in part: "Everybody want to know what I would do if I didn't win. I guess we'll never know."

West introduced himself to the world in an authentic, witty way, and he has consistently kept that energy going throughout the years. Time and again, however, West's hard-hitting views on politics, the press, fellow artists, and even his own family have landed him on the wrong side of pop culture. These are some of the top moments Ye West was over the top.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the southeastern United States, affecting Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi (per National Geographic). According to World Vision, the tropical cyclone — one of the worst ever experienced, in a tie with 2017's Hurricane Harvey — caused damages to the tune of $161 billion and resulted in 1,800 deaths.

Following the catastrophic occurrence, "A Concert For Hurricane Relief" — featuring a number of famous faces, like Leonardo DiCaprio and Lindsay Lohan — was aired on NBC. Kanye West and actor Mike Myers took to the task at hand and were a couple of the many celebs urging the public to make donations. While Myers followed the script as written, per the Chicago Tribune, West had plans of his own. "George Bush doesn't care about Black people," he declared, after critiquing the bias shown toward the Black community by federal emergency response services.

Former President Bush did not immediately address West's outrage, but he did write about it in his book that he published after he left the Oval Office, called "Decision Points." In an interview about the book with "Today," the former president discussed West's concerns and the rapper's show of remorse during an earlier appearance on the show. "Nobody wants to be called a racist if in your heart you believe in equality of race," Bush said.

During Kanye West's airpool karaoke on "The Late Late Show with James Corden," he shared his thoughts on Kris Humphries' 72-day marriage to Kim Kardashian. However, unbeknownst to him at the time, his own woes with Kardashian were next.

Ye's July 2020 Twitter rant included blunt jabs aimed at Kardashian and references to their first child, North West. "I put my life on my God that Norths mom would never photograph her doing playboy and that's on God I'm at the ranch ... come and get me," he wrote (via People). At a South Carolina presidential rally (via ABC), Ye let it be known that, had he had his way, North wouldn't have been born. "[Kardashian] said she was pregnant, and for one month, two months and three months, we talked about her not having this child. She had the [abortion] pills in her hand," he disclosed.

In November 2021, Ye released a thanksgiving prayer in which he expressed regret over revealing such a private detail of their lives. "I embarrassed my wife in the way that I presented information about our family during the one, and thank God, only press conference," he voiced. This wouldn't be his last admission of guilt, however. He also had regrets about the unfair treatment of Kardashian and her then-boyfriend, Pete Davidson. With more drama involving Ye and the Kardashian family (including an exchange with Khloé Kardashian) still doing rounds, more apologies could be coming.

Pete Davidson may have gotten more than he signed up for when he began a relationship with Kim Kardashian after her appearance on "Saturday Night Live." A little birdie whispered to Us Weekly that the would-be couple kept it professional on set, and only hit it off after they'd wrapped up filming. The relationship between Davidson and Kardashian was fast-paced, and within no time, the former was sporting numerous ink marks dedicated to his new-found love, per People. A whirlwind romance with Kardashian — who eventually became legally single (according to TMZ) — brought along with it the wrath of Kanye West, who publicly wanted his family back.

A mostly one-sided online war ensued between West and Davidson, who maintained his calm until he couldn't anymore. Somewhere between a graphic video dubbed "Eazy," a deleted faux Instagram post announcing the death of 'Skete' (per the Los Angeles Times), and rapper Kid Cudi catching strays (via Complex), Davidson finally found his petty side and fired back by sharing a text exchange with West. The pair went back and forth, with Davidson targeting the "Good Life" rapper where it hurt the most. "In bed with your wife," one text read (reported the Daily Mail).

When the relationship with Kardashian ended after its nine-month run — coincidentally timed with the birth of Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson's surrogate child — People learned that Davidson had opted for trauma therapy.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Four years ago, Kanye West caused yet another social media uproar when he paid a visit to TMZ's offices. The 75-time Grammy nominee got chatting with TMZ staff in a 12-minute clip that was uploaded to the publication's channel. Yet again, West defended his decision to wear a MAGA hat, touched on getting liposuction, hinted at a short-lived drug addiction, and took it a notch higher with a comment about slavery.

"He said grounded in reality. This reality has been forced upon us. It is a choice. Just like when I said slavery is a choice. The reality, we can make our own reality," West said in response to a TMZ staff member's disagreement with some of the rapper's statements. "When you hear about slavery for 400 years, for 400 years? That sounds like a choice," he'd earlier expressed.

Two year later, at West's South Carolina press conference (via the Associated Press), he threw a verbal punch at abolitionist Harriet Tubman. "Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves. She just had the slaves go work for other white people," he claimed.

Kanye West has graced the covers of many big name magazines, and he's even sometimes conquered otherwise thought-impossible feats, like landing the cover of Vogue. Years before West and Kim Kardashian made the cover of the popular publication, the artist was on a solo mission to get as creative as possible with his shoots.

In 2006, he may have taken his "Jesus Walks" single literally, because he posed on Rolling Stone as Jesus. Dubbed "The Passion of Kanye West," the issue featured West in a pensive mood, sporting a crown made of thorns and light trickles of blood. Rolling Stone maintained that West's cover was simply an artistic expression, not targeted at any entity, per ABC News.

That West has often seen himself as a god-like figure is no secret. In 2013, he released a song titled "I Am a God," though during an appearance on BBC Radio 1, West had quite a tongue-lashing for his critics. "When someone comes up and says something like, 'I am a god,' everybody says, 'Who does he think he is?' I just told you who I thought I was: A god!" he shared.

Kanye West has always been celebrated as a genius. More than that, the "Gold Digger" rapper knows he's one. There's a whole Netflix documentary, "Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy," that confirms this theory. Statistically, Billboard solidifies West's impact as an artist, complete with four No. 1 hits and 20 Top 10 tracks, in addition to 141 other entries on the charts.

Some of West's creative works, however, have raised eyebrows in the past. In the video for his song "Famous" (released as part of his seventh studio album, "The Life of Pablo"), West broke the internet with visuals of him in bed with a couple of naked celebrities, including Donald Trump, Caitlyn Jenner, Rihanna, Anna Wintour, and Taylor Swift, to mention but a few.

According to Vanity Fair, the controversial piece of art was shot over a three-month span under the supervision of West himself. He was undoubtedly proud of his most daring work yet. In fact, West let the publication know that a few more celebrities wanted in. "Guess what the response is when I show it to them? They want to be in the bed."

A text exchange shared by Kanye West in early October 2022 between himself and fellow rapper Sean Combs prompted a series of admitted antisemitic remarks by the former, as documented by Forbes. Combs was calling West out for his "White Lives Matter" t-shirts and stance, and in turn, the "No Church in the Wild" rapper wrote in part (via TMZ): "Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me."

True to his word, West further voiced his thoughts on Revolt TV's "Drink Champs" podcast. "Jewish people have owned the Black voice," he alleged (via ADL), while further claiming, "The Jewish community, especially in the music industry ... they'll take us and milk us till we die." West was additionally accused of making false statements about George Floyd's death and is set to face a $250 million lawsuit filed by the Floyd family. N.O.R.E, the host of the podcast, has since apologized on "The Breakfast Club" for airing the now-deleted episode.

In addition to Twitter and Instagram locking West's accounts, several longtime fashion collaborators began an exodus amid ongoing backlash over the artist's controversial comments. Balenciaga first pulled the plug, per WWD, while Page Six reported that Vogue also cut ties with him. As of this writing, the stakes have continued to get higher for West, with his partnership with Adidas — the deal that thrust him right into the billionaire club — being placed under review, as the company stated to CNBC.