Kanye West barred from performing at Grammys 2022 over his “concerning online behavior” despite 5 nominations

March 21, 2022 - 2:32 PM IST

American rapper Kanye West has been barred from performing at this year’s Grammy Awards. An unannounced performance of the 44-year-old artist at the 2022 Grammy Awards has been pulled due to his “concerning online behavior.”

Kanye West barred from performing at Grammys 2022 over his “concerning online behavior” despite 5 nominations

According to Variety, Kanye West’s representative cited a report in the Blast posted late Friday claiming that the artist’s team received a phone call Friday night informing him he had been “unfortunately” removed from the lineup of performers for the show due to his “concerning online behavior.”

A representative for Kanye West sent the outlet a link to that story, saying only, “This is confirmed”; the representative did not respond to requests for further information, although the Blast report states, “Our sources say Kanye’s team isn’t surprised by the decision.” West, who is up for five 2022 Grammy Awards, was not among the first list of performers announced on Tuesday.

Kanye West, who now goes by ‘Ye’, had not been confirmed yet as someone set to perform at the show, which has announced acts from global artists such as BTS, Billie Eilish, Lil’ Nas X and Olivia Rodrigo. His album “Donda” is nominated for album of the year. While Academy representatives did not respond to requests for comment, the news follows Kanye’s temporary ban from Instagram on Wednesday, March 16, after he published a post featuring a slur that targeted The Daily Show host Trevor Noah.

The alleged comment was made after the Daily Show host weighed in on West's split from Kim Kardashian, who was recently declared legally single. During the 24-hour suspension, the Grammy-winning musician was unable to post, comment or send DMs. In response, Noah, who is hosting the 2022 Grammys show, wrote, “I’ll be honest with you — what I see from the situation is a woman who wants to live her life without being harassed by an ex-boyfriend or an ex-husband or an ex-anything.”

Before West’s post was removed, Noah responded, telling the rapper, that his behavior “broke” the host’s heart and that Ye should “know the difference between that and fighting your family.” “If you’re just joking about it all and I’m an idiot for caring, then so be it. But I’d rather be the idiot who spoke up,” Noah concluded his comment.

Kanye West’s public appearances are rarely without controversy, often negative, and there’s no reason to expect that a performance at the 2022 Grammy Awards would be any exception. The is nominated for five Grammys this year, four of which are for his work on his 10th studio album ‘Donda’, released in August 2021: best rap song (‘Jail’), best melodic rap performance (‘Hurricane’), best rap album, and album of the year. He is also nominated for album of the year as a producer for Lil Nas X's debut album Montero from September 2021.

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