John Legend explains how politics strained his relationship with Kanye West

John legend becomes open about his friendship with Kanye West. During a recent interview, the EGOT star revealed that things between him and the GOOD Music founder aren’t what they used to be, citing the rapper’s political campaign and his support for former President Donald Trump as culprits.

During his appearance on CNN’s The Ax Files podcast with David Axelord, the singer-songwriter was asked how the “Jesus Walk” rapper’s political stance in 2020 affected their nearly two-decade friendship.

“Well, you know, we’re not as many friends as we used to be because I honestly think it’s because we disagreed publicly about his running for office and his support for Trump,” the 43-year-old star revealed . “I think it got to be too much for us to maintain our friendship, honestly.”

Legend was introduced to West by his roommate DeVon Harris, also West’s cousin. The rapper played an intricate role in the early days of Legend’s career, collaborating on several albums including 2005’s Number One and 2008’s It’s Over.

However, fans and friends were taken back after the “Jail” rapper publicly expressed his support for Trump and started wearing the infamous red “Make America Great Again” hat. The legend revealed that things between the friends became even more limited after he refused to show his support for West, who announced he would be running for president in the 2020 election.

Legend eventually endorsed current President Joe Biden after his first-choice nominee, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, fell behind during her presidential bid in the Super Tuesday primary across the country, preventing her from becoming the Democratic nominee.

“He was upset that I didn’t support his candidacy for the presidency of the United States — for understandable reasons,” Legend continued. “I wasn’t alone in that, but you know, he wasn’t happy about it. And since then we really haven’t been close.”

Fans on social media seemed upset at the news that the two weren’t that close; many spoke out understanding, including one online user who wrote, “People have ended their marriages because of a party that supports Trump. It’s literally SO bad…” while others struggled to accept Legend’s reasoning behind the broken friendship, with one Twitter user writing, “I say John’s unwillingness to accept Kanye’s disagreement ended their friendship.”

“Well, if you let politics get in the way of a friendship, it wasn’t a solid friendship,” claimed another reviewer.