Trevor Noah relates mother’s abuse to Kanye West’s ‘terrifying’ harassment of Kim Kardashian
'The Daily Show' host raised the alarm about West's social media attacks on Kardashian, recalling how his abusive stepfather tried to kill his mother after she divorced him.
Trevor Noah was taunted with a racial slur from Kanye West Wednesday morning, after Noah discussed on his “The Daily Show” the “terrifying” and increasingly “belligerent” way the rapper has been publicly harassing his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.
In fact, Noah raised the alarm that West’s social media harassment of Kardashian could escalate by recalling how his abusive stepfather tried to kill his mother after she divorced him in 1996. His stepfather, who continued to torment his mother for another 13 years, shot her in the head and leg in 2009. Fortunately, she survived.
“What (Kardashian is) going through is terrifying to watch, and it shines a spotlight on what so many women go through when they choose to leave,” Noah said on “The Daily Show” Tuesday night.
“What we’re seeing is one of the most powerful, one of the richest women in the world, unable to get her ex to stop texting her, to stop chasing after her, to stop harassing her,” the South African comedian said.
Before Noah’s stepfather tried to kill his mother, Noah said his mother was questioned about what she did to elicit the abuse and harassment. She also was repeatedly told that she was over-reacting when she said she was afraid that her ex-husband might hurt her.
Noah said as a child, he saw “a world where women are questioned for what is happening to them as opposed to people questioning what is happening to them.”
West, 44, clearly was not happy to have his situation with Kardashian, 41, compared to the violence Noah experienced in his family. Early Wednesday, the rapper, who legally changed his name to Ye, posted a set of photos of Noah on Instagram, with a caption offering a racist spin on the lyrics to the song “Kumbaya.”
Meanwhile, Kardashian didn’t appear to be concerned about West in an interview she gives this week with Ellen DeGeneres. In a clip of the interview, she gushed about her surprising new romance with “Saturday Night Live” comedian Pete Davidson.
Kardashians said she has “the cutest” pictures of them together, said that that he got multiple tattoos in her honor. She said she also feels “good” that she pursued the romance.
““I went for it, and, you know what? I’m in my 40s, like, (expletive) it — sorry — just go for it, find your happiness,” Kardashian told DeGeneres.
On Tuesday night, Noah acknowledged that the drama between Kardashian and West started out “in the land of tabloid,” because it involves a reality TV star who likes to garner publicity, along with her surprising romance with 28-year-old “Saturday Night Live” comedian Pete Davidson. Noah said that West’s social media tirades and public pleas to Kardashian to reconcile had become concerning and “belligerent.”
“I feel it’s creeping and has crept into a world that more people should pay attention to but not for the reason that you may think.” Noah said.
Noah agreed that the reality TV star may not strike many as the most sympathetic figure, and it’s easy to suspect that both she and her attention-seeking ex could be milking the drama for publicity.
“You may not feel sorry for Kim because she’s rich and famous, because of the way she dresses, because she appropriates black culture, because she tells women they’re lazy, broke the internet and then didn’t put it back together, whatever, you hate her,” Noah continued.
That’s when Noah said that West’s actions towards the KKW beauty mogul have been wrong and anything but “entertaining.” At the same time, Noah emphasized that he was not calling West “a bad guy” or saying that he could become violent. Noah said he was just asking society to “think harder.”
“We have to ask ourselves questions,” Noah said. “Do we wish to stand by and watch a car crash when we thought we saw it coming? Or do we at least want to say ‘hey, slow down, let’s all put our hazards on because there’s a storm right now.'” He asked whether it would be better to “take threats seriously and look idiotic if they don’t pan out?”
He added, “I’d rather be in that situation than to be in one where I say ‘Man, I wish we didn’t think the whole thing wasn’t worth looking at.'”
Kardashian filed for divorce from West in February 2021. They are parents to four children, North, 8, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 2.
Since the start of the year — after Kardashian’s romance with Davidson became known — West has unleashed a string of social media tirades, in which he criticizes his ex-wife’s parenting or accuses her of trying to keep him from their children. He also released a music video, “EAZY,” for his new album, Donda 2, which shows him kidnapping and burying Pete Davidson alive.
Kardashian has denied West’s claims that she’s keeping him from seeing their children. This week, she wrote on Instagram: “Please stop with this narrative, you were just here this morning picking up the kids for school.”
In February, she also posted the statement: “Divorce is difficult enough on our children and Kanye’s obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly is only causing further pain for all.”