John Legend has become the latest celebrity to take issue with Kanye West's tweets of support for President Donald Trump.
The singer took to the social media site on Wednesday to share a series of posts, in which he expressed his concern about those who don't see racism as a modern issue, before appearing to turn on Kanye.
"I love that great, brilliant artists have the power to imagine a better future," he wrote, "but artists can't be blind to the truth"
The Stronger hitmaker's pro-Trump tweets have prompted many followers, like fellow musicians Kendrick Lamer, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Rihanna, and Nicki Minaj unfollowing him on Twitter, and Legend went a step further and texted West personally.
The hip-hop mogul then shared screenshots of the interaction.
"Hey it's JL. I hope you'll reconsider aligning yourself with Trump. You're way too powerful and influential to endorse who he is and what he stands for," Legend wrote. "As you know, what you say really means something to your fans. They are loyal to you and respect your opinion.
"So many people who love you feel so betrayed right now because they know the harm that Trump's policies cause, especially to people of color. Don't let this be part of your legacy. You're the greatest artist of our generation."
Unaffected by the message, West stood his ground.
"I love you John and I appreciate your thoughts," West replied. "You bringing up my fans or my legacy is a tactic based on fear used to manipulate my free thought."
Earlier this week, West posted a photo of himself wearing a hat emblazoned with Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan.
"You don't have to agree with trump (sic) but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother," he captioned the controversial image.
Why doesn’t John Legend concern himself with his vote and support, rather than anyone else’s? It’s not up to him to decide who Kanye votes for…
Uh, what? Legend didn’t “decide” anything. He expressed an opinion, just like KW did.
The only difference is that Legend didn’t claim to have “dragon energy” … whatever the heck THAT is.
By telling Kanye to choose a different candidate is a form of deciding, in this case deciding against Trump.
Dragon energy would be the black equivalent of Charlie Sheen’s Tiger Blood, duh!
Still doesn’t make sense. KW “decided” to support Trump and posted that on Twitter. Legend “decided” not to support Trump and posted that on Twitter. No difference … except to Trump supporters.
Don’t be obtuse. One is expressing his opinion of support for a President and the other is expressing his opinion of someone’s opinion. If John Legend had just come out and said “I don’t support Trump”, that would be the same, only he is asking Kanye to change his mind. That’s the difference!