Trevor Noah is rejecting claims that he has "beef" with Kanye West.
The Daily Show host, 38, responded to an audience member who asked him why he's "beefing" with the artist, now legally known as Ye, in a clip posted to the show's official TikTok account.
The interaction took place during a segment break on the show, and came months after Noah spoke about West's treatment of his former wife, Kim Kardashian, on Instagram.
West, 45, previously took aim at the television host after Noah commented on his split from Kardashian, 42, earlier this year, saying in March that West had "become more and more belligerent in how he tries to get Kim back." West then called Noah a racial slur on the social media platform in response, which resulted in an Instagram suspension.
"Why am I beefing with Kanye? That's an interesting way to phrase it because a beef has to go both ways," Noah said in the video. "Genuinely it does. In my limited understanding of the world, beef has always been something that generally will happen between two hip-hop artists. I've never beefed with Kanye West. I was concerned about Kanye West."
West is currently facing scrutiny for antisemitic comments he made on Twitter, and in several interviews since, notably on an episode of Drink Champs, which host N.O.R.E. now claims he regrets platforming.
The rapper has also recently been criticized for his false claims pertaining to the death of George Floyd, and what many have called bullying toward Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson. During his Yeezy Season 9 Paris Fashion Week show in early October, West wore a long-sleeve shirt printed with the phrase "White Lives Matter," which is considered a "hate slogan" by the Anti-Defamation League, alongside right-wing pundit Candace Owens.
In the new clip, Noah questioned why the media has continued to give West a platform amid what he took as being possible signs of a mental health concern. In recent weeks, the "Stronger" crooner has been interviewed by Piers Morgan, Tucker Carlson and Chris Cuomo following his comments on Drink Champs, and after being restricted by both Instagram and Twitter.
"If somebody says to me that they have a mental health issue, and they say to everyone that when they don't take their medication they're unable to control themselves — and then everyone ignores when that person is having an episode and they haven't taken the medication — and then they platform the person and put them up ... I sometimes think it's a little s-----, to be honest with you," Noah said.
"I was never beefing with Kanye West, I was concerned about Kanye West." Trevor on his "beef" with Ye. #BetweenTheScenes pic.twitter.com/rr0miymWXv
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 21, 2022
He continued, pointing out that his grandfather was bipolar and would "act in a certain way and could do certain things" during a mental health episode. While he didn't claim himself that West is bipolar — which West himself has spoken about in the past — Noah said he found it "strange" that others are more concerned about "going viral" as a result of West's comments.
"I don't have beef with a human being who has expressed openly that they're dealing with a mental health issue. I don't have beef with that human being," Noah said. "What I have beef with is us as a society not coming together around the person and going like, 'Hey, maybe this is not the moment to put a microphone in your face so that you just go off saying everything.' If this is what you want to say when you're on your medication, then that's a different story. But because you've told us that, I'm not going to sit by and say that."
Noah, who said he is admittedly "still playing" West's debut album College Dropout, reiterated that he doesn't have "beef" with the artist. "But I've promised myself I'll never be the person who just sits by and gleefully says things about people that I care about and then also joins the group of mourners afterward and acts like I wasn't part of it," Noah said. "Too many people like to mourn you when you're dead, and they don't say anything to you when you're alive. So I don't know where to end. But that's it."
The host's comments arrive as Balenciaga cut ties with West on Friday, with parent company Kering revealing in a statement that it "no longer has any relationship nor any plans for future projects related" to the artist.
Seperately, the father of four recently parted ways with Gap, and ended the deal between Yeezy and the brand after a two-year run. His multi-year collaboration with Adidas, which started in 2016, is under review following a dispute between himself and the brand, regarding similarities between Adidas shoes and his popular Yeezy slides.
