‘I said counsel Kanye not cancel’: Trevor Noah ‘had nothing to do’ with Kanye being removed from Grammys lineup, report says

Trevor Noah “had nothing to do” with Kanye West’s performance at the Grammy Awards being cancelled, according to a new report.

The rapper has been reportedly barred from performing at the Grammys, which is being hosted by Noah, due to his “concerning online behaviour”.

The move comes after West had his Instagram account locked for 24 hours earlier last week following an outburst against the comedian, who is the writing partner of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s boyfriend Pete Davidson, using racial slurs.

A source close to Noah told CNN that he was not involved in the Grammys decision, nor had he spoken to producers or the Recording Academy about the hip-hop star.

“Trevor never asked the Grammys to ban Kanye from performing. He was not offended by Kanye’s Instagram post and Trevor responded on Instagram. The notion that Trevor or his team asked the Grammys to ban Kanye is ridiculous,” the source told the news network.

“I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye,” Noah also tweeted on Sunday.

The Independent has reached out to Trevor Noah’s representatives for comment.

Instagram’s parent company Meta took action on Wednesday 16 March, saying it viewed West’s post as a violation of the platform’s policies on hate speech, harassment and bullying.

In his post aimed at Noah, West (now known only as Ye) repeatedly referred to him as a “k***” after the comedian said that the situation between West, his ex-wife and Davidson was “terrifying to watch”.

“What [Kardashian is] going through is terrifying to watch, and it shines a spotlight on what so many women go through when they choose to leave,” Noah said.

Noah is believed to have provoked West’s ire with comments made on his show, when he addressed the dynamic between the rapper, Kardashian and Davidson.

The phrase used by West in the post is described by Urban Dictionary as a Black person who is anti-Black.

Noah addressed the post directly by commenting on the post before West, who legally changed his name to Ye last year, was suspended from Instagram.

“You’re an indelible part of my life Ye. Which is why it breaks my heart to see you like this,” he wrote in response.

“I don’t care if you support Trump and I don’t care if you roast Pete. I do however care when I see you on a path that’s dangerously close to peril and pain … Don’t ever forget, the biggest trick racists ever played on black people was teaching us to strip each other of our blackness whenever we disagree. Tricking us into dividing ourselves up into splinters so that we would never unite into a powerful rod.”

Kardashian filed for divorce from West in February 2021, citing irreconcilable differences. She was declared legally single on 2 March.

West has made several public appeals to Kardashian to reunite their family; the couple share four children – North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm – together.

He has repeatedly taken to Instagram for outbursts towards Davidson, who began dating Kardashian last October.

The Independent has reached out to the Recording Academy and CBS, which televises the Grammys, for comment.

The Grammys are scheduled to air on 3 April on CBS. You can find the full list of nominations here.