KANYE WEST’S bombshell interview...
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anye West caused a deafening outcry on Wednesday after making inflammatory comments about Planned Parenthood, saying the organisation was placed in the U.S. by 'white supremacists to do the devil's work,' as well as revealing himself to be an anti-vaxxer. Yet, his wife Kim Kardashian West - who is pro-vaccine and has publicly advocated for Planned Parenthood in the past - has remained silent on the controversy. During his shock interview with Forbes Magazine following his announcement to run for president, Kanye, 43, slammed the organisation - that provides abortion services - adding: ‘I am pro-life because I'm following the word of the bible.' However, Kim, 39, has supported Planned Parenthood and has been seen to be pro-vaccine in past episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, actions that now stand in direct opposition to Kanye's beliefs.
Back in 2017, Kim met with Sue Dunlap, the president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles in an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, in order for her to form an opinion on the organisation and its services.
‘The perception of Planned Parenthood is that it is an abortion clinic; that is nothing what it is like,' enthused Kim in the episode, praising the group, while her sister Khloe stated that was pro-choice.
Kim added: ‘Hearing that first hand [women's stories] really made it real for me.' She later posted about the experience on Instagram saying she stood with Planned Parenthood.
On his anti-vaccination stance, Kanye told Forbes on Tuesday: ‘It's so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralysed… So when they say the way we're going to fix COVID is with a vaccine, I'm extremely cautious.' The rapper also claimed that he had COVID-19 in February this year and took hot showers and watched instructional videos to treat himself. He then referred to any potential COVID vaccine being a ‘mark of the beast.'
But in a 2013 episode of KUWTK, Kim took her whole family to get Tdap vaccines, that are used to protect against whooping cough. Kim was seen encouraging her sisters to get the vaccination otherwise they wouldn't be allowed to see her daughter North, who was a baby at the time. The episode was shown before the whooping cough epidemic in California in 2014.
Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood released a statement on Wednesday in direct response to Kanye's claims in his interview.
‘Black women are free to make our own decisions about our bodies and pregnancies, and want and deserve to have access to the best medical care available,' Nia Martin-robinson, Director of Black Leadership and Engagement, Planned Parenthood Federation of America said.
‘Any insinuation that abortion is Black genocide is offensive and infantilisiling. The real threat to Black communities' safety, health, and lives stems from lack of access to quality, affordable health care, police violence and the criminalisation of reproductive health care by anti-abortion opposition.'
She concluded: ‘At Planned Parenthood, we trust and we stand with Black women who have, and continue to lead the charge when it comes to the health, rights, and bodily autonomy of those in their communities.' In a 2019 profile for New York Magazine's The Cut, Kim spoke about overcoming her differences with Kanye at times in their marriage.
Kanye West caused a deafening outcry on Wednesday after making inflammatory comments about Planned Parenthood, saying the organisation was placed in the U.S. by 'white supremacists to do the devil's work'