NEWSJohn Legend Finally Addresses Kanye West's Infamous 'Mashed Potatoes' Insult: 'Very Obsessed'
Singer John Legend finally broke his silence on former friend and collaborator Kanye West's viral claims that he smelled like 'mashed potatoes.'
Months after Kanye West’s odd insult that he “smelled like mashed potatoes,” John Legend is finally weighing in.
“He was very obsessed with the sweaters, and he said I smell like mashed potatoes,” Legend, 46, explained during a Tuesday, July 1, radio interview with Peter Rosenberg. “What kind of potatoes? Cheesy, garlic?”
John Legend Responds to Kanye West's 'Mashed Potatoes' Comment
John Legend has previously worked with Kanye West.
When asked whether Ye’s mashed potatoes remark “offended” him or “made him sad,” Legend replied, “All of it makes [him] sad. All of it.”
Despite the playful nature of the jab, the La La Land star admitted that watching West’s shift from chart-topping rapper to his current behavior has been tough to watch.
John Legend Is 'Sad' for Kanye West
John Legend is 'sad' for his former friend.
“It never affects me personally, but just the whole story is sad. Seeing this guy praise Hitler, seeing this guy be like this force of hate and just like vitriol and nastiness,” he explained. “Somebody who has made some of the great art of this century, like as an artist, as a performer, as a fashion designer, all the things that he’s done to make the world more beautiful and more interesting, and then for him to be this now, it’s sad. It’s just sad.”
Legend’s response comes more than four months after West, 48, made the controversial comments during a March interview with DJ Akademiks. During the bizarre rant, the “Runaway” rapper dressed in all-black KKK-style robes and made shocking claims about his former collaborator.
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Kanye West and John Legend Have Worked Together for Decades
Kanye West has experimented with various looks over the years.
“Look at John Legend’s old sissy a--,” West said in the viral clip. “I ain’t never do nothing wrong to that n-----. I changed generations of his life. And he got on that f--- a-- hot sweater. They said he smells like mashed potatoes.”
John Legend and Kanye West Grew Apart in Recent Years
Kanye West signed John Legend to his music label in 2004.
Legend and West share a long history, with the former becoming the first artist signed to West’s GOOD Music label in 2004. The two collaborated closely — producing, touring, and making music together — before growing apart in recent years.
"He had so much optimism, so much creativity. It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now,” Legend told The Times in an interview published on May 12. “I didn’t see a hint of what we’re seeing now, his obsessions with antisemitism, anti-blackness, and it is sad to see his devolution."
