Kanye West's path to redemption took a big hit earlier this week. Right now, it seems he's nearly back to square one in regard to truly winning back the public. As a result, popular figures appear to be avoiding talking about him as a precautionary measure.
That's at least what we are to assume after Erykah Badu completely shut down after TMZ asked about him. After her night at the Fashion Trust U.S. 2026 Awards, the outlet stopped her for what became a really short interview.
She was fine for one question about the show before refusing to answer their next one about Kanye West's show at SoFi Stadium last week. Badu wasn't rude about it, but you'll see on their website that she didn't want to go down what could have been a rabbit hole.
It's worth noting that Badu has shown admiration for Ye in the past, though. The neo-soul singer called him "beautiful and kind" after conversing at London Fashion Week in 2022.
While it remains unclear why she really didn't want to discuss him at all after having fun at the show, we can't help but speculate that recent events are factoring in.
Kanye West Banned From The UK
Of course, we are referring to UK officials banning Kanye West from entering their country. This occurred days after the Chicago native was booked by Wireless to be their headliner for all three nights of their festival this July.
The decision was immediately met with criticism from the UK's prime minister, Keir Starmer. "It is deeply concerning Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism. Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted firmly wherever it appears. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe."
Major sponsors for the event, including Wireless's main contributor, Pepsi, started to back out as well. All in all, there was too much pushback to not cancel the festival. As a result, Wireless was shut down for this year too.
