Communicate with Kanye West at your own risk.
After tweeting more than 80 times Wednesday, the 40-year-old rapper returned to Twitter Thursday to share a private text message conversation he had with John Legend. During his initial Twitter spree, West voiced his support for Donald Trump, but stopped short of saying he agrees with all of the president's policies. (Kim Kardashian requested he explain his allegiance.)
Legend reached out to West privately Thursday morning. "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. 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," he told the musician. "Don't let this be part of your legacy. You're the greatest artist of our generation." In response, an unapologetic West said, "I love you John and I appreciate your thoughts. You bringing up my fans or my legacy is a tactic based on fear used to manipulate my free thought."
"I tweeted the John text to show that there are people around me that disagree with me and voice their opinion," West said afterward. "I respect everyone's opinion but I stand my ground." In a follow-up tweet, he argued, "If you feel something don't let peer pressure manipulate you."
Legend's wife, Chrissy Teigen, swiftly commented on West's actions. "Everyone keeps asking me to comment on s--t. Comment on psycho Tami Lasagna, whom I refuse to give the joy to, say something about RHOA, speak up about kanye. When it comes to people we know, we DO speak up. To THEM. not on Twitter," she wrote. "And sometimes, I guess it makes it to Twitter."
Though they disagree, Legend didn't mind West taking their texts public. In fact, West soon shared his response with his followers. "Think freely. Think with empathy and context too. Your words and actions have consequences. Much love," Legend wrote. "And since you're posting texts, let me add that I have a new single out haha." West wrote back, "Haha. I love you John."
"I really appreciate this dialogue with John Legend because I'm actually very empathetic. I'm still the kid from the telethon. I feel when people think of MAGA they don't think of empathy," the Grammy winning musician went on to tweet. "This is year one. We can't add empathy to MAGA by hating. We can only ad empathy with love and time and truly hearing all sides." Just in case people thought they were on bad terms, he said, "John Legend new single on line now."
Eventually, the rapper tweeted about topics that didn't directly involve Legend. "My friend said he texted all his friends this morning and said I love you. The concept of loving people has a stigma. Try telling people you love them it actually feels weird at first. We're really good at hating each other," West told his 27.9 million fans. "We have to get good at loving each other."
Teigen later retweeted her husband's ongoing text message conversation with West, joking with her fans, "This is the most elaborate and complex google pixel phone ad I have ever seen." She also teased Kardashian, asking, "@KimKardashian are we still doing dinner Friday or no lol."
From there, West only got more philosophical: