John Legend reflects on his former mentor and friend Kanye West's 'devolution': 'It is sad'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: John Legend recently looked back at his friendship and fallout with former mentor Kanye West as he discussed the embattled rapper’s "shocking devolution" over the years.

The ‘All of Me’ singer, 46, opened up about his relationship with West, who now goes by Ye, in his interview with The Times, where he revealed the exact moment he started spiraling before public meltdown years later.

In his interview, Legend asserted that the West he sees today is not the same person he knew over two decades ago. The singer worked as a management consultant from 1999 to 2002, where he first met West.

In 2004, Legend secured a record contract with West's GOOD Music company, and the two quickly became friends. However, the duo had a major fallout in 2022 when West came out as a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump.

John Legend on the moment Kanye West started spiraling

During the interview, the ‘Minefields’ hitmaker reminisced on his early days as an artist when he used to accompany Kanye West on his shows.

“Kanye blew up after producing Jay-Z’s album ‘The Blueprint’ in 2001,” Legend recalled, adding “Then he experienced a buzz as a solo artist and the whole time I was traveling with him, doing shows with him, getting exposure not only as his singer and keyboard player but also as an artist myself. I had been turned down by labels everywhere.”

He continued, “Then ‘The College Dropout’ sold 400,000 copies in its first week, everyone wanted to know what was happening in our camp, and all those people who turned me down suddenly decided that my music sounded a lot better than it did the first time round.”

Legend further mentioned that during their time together, he saw no hint of West's controversial “obsessions with antisemitism, and anti-blackness.”

"Back then, Kanye was very passionate, very gifted, and he had big dreams not only for himself but also for all the people around him. He had so much optimism, so much creativity. It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now,” he admitted.

"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," Legend stated. 

Further, the singer recalled how he started noticing "a difference" in the rapper's mental state after his mother Donda West died in 2007.

When asked why West is so different now, Legend replied, "I don't think we're qualified to psychoanalyze him, but after his mother passed in 2007, there was definitely a difference. His descent started then and seems to have accelerated recently."

Particularly in recent months, West's antisemitic behavior has been increasingly severe. In February, the rapper called Adolf Hitler "fresh" on social media and also sold T-shirts covered with swastikas.

He also sparked controversy when he wore a black Ku Klux Klan-like outfit as he spoke to DJ Akademiks following his continuous outbursts on social media.

Kanye West accused John Legend of being ungrateful in X rant

This came just a few months after Kanye West claimed that John Legend became a "very vocal person against" him over his support for Donald Trump.

In March, the 'Donda' rapper took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a video, in which he talked about his recent activities on the site, describing them as "very therapeutic," before turning his focus toward the number of people who he believes have "crossed" him over the years.

Among those he named was Legend, whom he accused of being ungrateful for the career opportunities West allegedly provided him.

“I definitely changed his life… brought him up, all that,” West stated before clarifying that his support for Trump was never meant to target Legend personally, but claimed that Legend became “a very vocal person against me.” “I can't be his friend anymore... I put you on… I just didn’t appreciate it,” West added.