Kim Kardashian reveals why she regrets telling Kanye West to take off MAGA hat before SNL
Kim Kardashian has spoken candidly about cancel culture, which she described as “ridiculous,” and why she regrets telling ex-husband Kanye West to remove his MAGA hat before his 2018 Saturday Night Live appearance.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star reflected on the incident during an appearance on journalist Bari Weiss’ podcast Honestly, where she revealed that she and West had argued about the pro-Donald Trump Make America Great Again hat before he walked onstage.
In response to a question about what, if any, lessons she learned from the experience, Kardashian began by explaining that she’d been “very nervous” and hadn’t wanted her then-husband to wear the infamous red hat because she had worried about what the reactions would be.
According to Kardashian, who acknowledged that she is usually “very neutral,” West’s insistence on wearing the hat that night prompted her to be “very forceful with him”.
“I remember other people were around and it became a thing where he wasn’t going to go on because he wanted to be who he is. I’m very neutral, but that night I was very forceful with him, and argued with him like: ‘You have to take that hat off,’” the Skims founder recalled.
Looking back, Kardashian says that her mindset has changed, as she told Weiss that she now questions why the rapper should have had to remove the hat “if that’s what he believes in”.
“And now looking back, I think, why should he take that off if that’s what he believes in?” she continued. “Why can’t he wear that on TV? Half of the country voted for [Trump], so clearly other people like him also.”
Ultimately, Kardashian said that she “learned a lot” from the situation, with the reality star claiming that it taught her to be more “empathetic” towards people who “just want to do what they want to do”.
“Freedom of speech. If you want to wear the hat, wear the hat,” Kardashian said, adding that she respects that her estranged husband always stands by what he believes in. “To me, that’s a good quality to have.”
Following his on-air performance, West, who had worn the red hat on a number of previous occasions, was booed by the SNL audience while delivering an off-air speech in favour of then-president Trump.
However, in a Thanksgiving prayer shared to Instagram last month, West reflected on Kardashian’s previous issues with the divisive hat, with the rapper telling his fans: “Good lord, my wife did not like me wearing the red hat.
“Being a good wife, she just wanted to protect me and our family.”
Elsewhere in the interview with Weiss, the KKW Beauty founder shared her thoughts on cancel culture, which she described as the “most ridiculous thing”.
“If I worried about every last thing that someone said and I had to try to change it, then I would never be me,” she told the journalist. “And anyone wouldn’t be them.”
According to Kardashian, she believes in rehabilitation, with the reality star noting that cancelling a person excludes them from joining the conversation where they can “really understand”.
