Kanye West Hints at Another Presidential Run

Rapper Kanye West, seen in this February 10, 2020, file photo Jean-Baptiste Lacroix AFP/File
Rapper Kanye West, seen in this February 10, 2020, file photo Jean-Baptiste Lacroix AFP/File
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Kanye West Hints at Another Presidential Run

Rapper Kanye West, seen in this February 10, 2020, file photo Jean-Baptiste Lacroix AFP/File
Rapper Kanye West, seen in this February 10, 2020, file photo Jean-Baptiste Lacroix AFP/File

The rapper and fashion designer Kanye West has suggested he will run for president in 2024 and wants Donald Trump to be his running mate.

The artist, who goes by the name Ye, posted Thursday a swirling symbol on his Twitter account with "Ye" and the number 24, apparently representing 2024, the year of the next US presidential election.

Then the rapper posted a video of himself speaking about a recent meeting with the former president in Florida, AFP said.

"I think the thing that Trump was most perturbed about (was) me asking him to be my vice president," West said.

"Trump started basically screaming at me at the table, telling me I'm going to lose," West said. "I'm like, hold on Trump, you're talking to Ye."

Trump, who tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election he lost to Joe Biden, said November 15 that he would run again in 2024. Trump's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Ye remarks.

The artist posted two days ago that he had visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his palatial Florida home.

"Can't believe I kept President Trump waiting," he posted on Twitter.

"What you guys think his response was when I asked him to be my running mate in 2024?"

It was not clear whether the rapper was serious about his intentions -- or if he sought publicity after a spate of PR moves that put him in a negative light.

West is a veteran at garnering publicity -- and dabbling in politics. He ran for president in 2020, but got fewer than 70,000 votes, coming in seventh place.

Last month, German sportswear giant Adidas severed its lucrative tie-up with West after the star made anti-Semitic statements.

Adidas later said the termination of ties with West had forced it to slash its forecast of net income for 2022 by half. West had helped Adidas develop its successful "Yeezy" line of clothing.

Paris fashion house Balanciaga and US clothing retailer Gap have also ended ties with West, who appeared at a Paris fashion show last month wearing a shirt with the slogan "White Lives Matter," a rebuke to the Black Lives Matter racial equality movement.



US Singer Chris Brown in London Court on Assault Case

US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
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US Singer Chris Brown in London Court on Assault Case

US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

American R&B singer Chris Brown, the former boyfriend of superstar Rihanna, was due to appear in court Friday in London on assault charges.

Brown was freed from UK custody last month on £5 million ($6.7 million) bail after his arrest in the northwestern city of Manchester, AFP said.

Under the terms of his bail, which would see him forfeit the £5 million guarantee if he failed to return for court proceedings, the Grammy-winning Brown, 36, was given the go-ahead to continue his scheduled international tour, which began on June 8 in Amsterdam.

The star, who had a troubled relationship with Barbadian singer Rihanna, is currently performing the UK leg of his tour, with his next date in London on Saturday.

Concerts are also scheduled in France, Portugal and the US later in the year, before the tour wraps up in Memphis in mid-October.

The star is charged with "grievous bodily harm with intent" in relation to an assault in which the victim was allegedly struck several times with a bottle before being pursued, punched and kicked.

The alleged incident took place at a nightclub in Hanover Square in London on February 19, 2023 while Brown was touring in the UK.

Police detained him in the early hours of May 13 at a five-star hotel in Manchester after he reportedly flew in by private jet.

Judge Tony Baumgartner, at Southwark Crown Court in London, last month ordered that he could be freed on bail, and also stipulated that he should surrender his passport if he is not travelling.

He is required to live at a specific address known to the court and is not permitted to visit the nightclub were the alleged assault took place or contact the alleged victim, Abraham Diah.

Co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, a 38-year-old US national, has also been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent.

Brown is known for mid-2000s hits such as "Kiss, Kiss".

He rose from a local church choir in Virginia to sudden fame with his rich R&B voice and later rap, but his reputation has been tarnished by the allegations of abuse.