Kanye West released the music video for his Donda 2 track “Eazy” on Instagram Wednesday, which notably features lyrics threatening his estranged wife Kim Kardashian’s boyfriend Pete Davidson. Unfortunately, the video takes things to a disturbing new level, which has people making comparisons to comedian Kathy Griffin.
In Ye’s video, a claymation version of Davidson is kidnapped, then buried up to his neck, and sprinkled with seeds until roses grow out of his head. West then cuts the roses off of the SNL castmember’s head while he cries, before loading them into a pickup truck — in an apparent example of art imitating life. Throughout the video, West also raps while holding what appears to be a dummy of Davidson’s severed head.
The video is alarming for obvious reasons, particularly, when there is a valid concern that either West or his fans might act upon the violent impulses. It quickly received the ire of Twitter, where some people pointed out the double standard when Griffin was “canceled” over a similar stunt.
In 2017, the actress and comedian posted a video of herself holding “a mask styled to look like the severed, bloody head” of then-President Donald Trump to her social media accounts. Though Griffin was clearly engaging in political satire — she was referencing Trump’s “blood coming out of her eyes” remarks about Megyn Kelly — the backlash was swift and severe.
Not only did the 61-year-old My Life on the D-List star fired from CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast with Anderson Cooper, but she was dropped as a spokesperson by Squatty Potty.
At the time, Griffin apologized for the video, but later rescinded her apology and re-posted the image on Election Day in 2020.
Yet, while Griffin’s career was effectively derailed over the incident, it seems unlikely that such a fate will befall Kanye West.
“Remember when Kathy Griffin was canceled for holding a dismembered Trump head? If that’s a threat, so is this,” tweeted one user. “All I’m saying is y’all better treat Kanye ‘decapitating’ Pete the same way y’all treated Kathy Griffin for holding a ‘decapitated’ Trump,” wrote another.
“Remember when Kathy Griffin lost her entire career for the photo of trump? Kanye should be held to the same level of scrutiny,” Tweeted actor and producer Daniel Preda. “This is beyond dangerous.”
Another user asked how many double standards will there be? “Will he be investigated, canceled, and ridiculed like Kathy Griffin? And to all his fans, what message do you think this sends his kids?”
One pop culture expert pointed out that nobody seems to care when Kanye does this sort of thing, even though — in addition to targeting Davidson, who had done nothing wrong — he’s simultaneously abusing and harassing his ex-wife, which in turn is abusive to his four children he shares with Kardashian.
Yet another user added that “Y’all better cancel Kanye the way y’all canceled Kathy.”
The timing of the release of “Eazy” was also suspect, as the 44-year-old dropped the video just hours after Kardashian was declared “legally single” in her ongoing divorce battle with West.