When Kanye West told two wheelchair-bound concertgoers to stand up at his Australia gig or he’ll pull the plug on the show, he wasn’t aware they had disabilities. Still, many have grown fed up with Yeezy’s arrogant antics.
West’s chronic foot-in-mouth disease was on full display overseas, and it all began on Wednesday at a show in Melbourne . Then, he shouted out to the audience and urged them to hop to their feet.
Kanye told seated guests to stand up “unless y’all sitting down because y’all handicapped.” Nonetheless, the crowed went with it and the show went on without incident. However, fans at a Friday show didn’t mince their words over his show demands.
Before a large crowed of patrons in the Qantas Credit Union Arena, two fans in the crowd remained seated because they were in wheelchairs. Kanye West, obviously unaware, demanded everyone stand as he did at the previous venue.
Fans began tweeting about it in real-time, and some shared stories with the Daily Mail about West’s wheelchair faux-pas.
“He wanted the crowd to stand up and couldn’t see why they were seated. Once it clicked that they couldn’t, he started the song.”
One fan shared what Kanye West did during a pause in the music.
“I can’t do this song, I can’t do this show until everybody stand up. Unless you got a handicap pass and you get special parking and s**t. Imma see you if you ain’t standing up, believe me, I’m very good at that.”
Waiting to finish “Good Life,” he paused and addressed those that had not complied with his requests for them to standup.
“This is the longest I’ve had to wait to do a song, it’s unbelievable,” the singer said. Next, things got really dramatic, according to witnesses. Apparently frustrated that some people had not jumped to their feet, Kanye West directed his bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, into the crowd to confirm if the seated guests were wheelchair-bound, which they were.
“The crowd was also yelling that he was in a wheelchair but he waited for Pascal’s confirmation,” the witness said.
Others said several people tried using hand and arm motions to signal that the guests were not standing because they couldn’t. There was also a report that one of the guests sitting in a wheelchair took off a prosthetic limb and began waving it as proof.
As outlandish as this all sounds, more than likely Kanye West was not being rude to the wheelchair guests. Case in point: Sources reported how one handicapped guest was in the second row of one of Yeezy’s shows and couldn’t see the stage because others in front of him were standing. However, the 37-year-old hip-hop star offered Eliiot Briones a consolation gift.
“I was in the second row. There were a lot of people blocking me, and Kanye noticed. Kanye told the security guard to give me the mic.”
Despite the hubbub from West’s concert demands, the mood softened up as Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian, arrived in the building to support her man.
The 33-year-old KUWTK star looked charming, and as always, KK made a fashion statement Down Under. Donning a white body-hugging custom dress, black Hermes Roman-style heeled sandals, and a minimalist face, Kim looked like a princess eying her Prince Charming on the stage. And to beat the rush at the end, she was seen departing about 20 minutes before the show ended.
Kanye West is known for rubbing people the wrong way, but it seems the wheelchair incident was simply for a lack of not knowing. Whether his desire is to command his minions like Caesar did when he stood above crowds or if he just wanted fans to have a good time, one thing is certain: Kanye will be Kanye.
[Image via: PopDust ]