Gigi Hadid Calls Kanye West A "Bully and a Joke" on Instagram

The rapper had generated controversy this week for displaying "White Lives Matter" clothing at a Paris fashion event.

Photo Credit: Getty Images
Photo Credit: Getty Images

Kanye West has sparked outrage in the fashion world (and beyond) this week after at least one model wore a ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt in his Paris fashion show. West himself also posed for a photo in the shirt, along with Black conservative commentator Candace Owens.

After backlash about the shirts began circulating in the media, West took to Instagram stories to label the Black Lives Matter movement a ‘SCAM,’ adding, ‘NOW ITS OVER. YOU’RE WELCOME.’

The controversy continued after Vogue fashion editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who attended the Paris show, criticized West’s ‘indefensible’ creative vision on her own Instagram account.

‘I guess I get what he tried to do– he thought it was duchampian. It wasn’t,’ Karefa-Johnson wrote. ‘It didn’t land and it was deeply offensive, violent and dangerous.’ West then uploaded several posts to his IG stories, personally attacking Karefa-Johnson and her fashion choices.

Rising to Karefa-Johnson’s defense was supermodel Gigi Hadid.

‘You wish u had a percentage of her intellect,’ Hadid commented on a since-deleted post on West’s IG page. ’You have no idea haha…. If there’s actually a point to any of your shit she might be the only person that could save u. As if the ‘honor’ of being invited to your show should keep someone from giving their opinion ..? Lol. You’re a bully and a joke.’

‘I was trying very hard not to give that man air time, but publicly bullying someone who criticizes your work on your massive platform is another level of ridiculousness to me,’ Hadid later wrote on her own IG stories. ‘If you can’t take it don’t dish it. If you can’t take criticism, specially the smart, nuanced, and kind criticism that GKJ provided yesterday’s show, then don’t put work out for public consumption. This is immature bully behavior.’

In a statement of its own released Tuesday, Vogue said it ‘stands with Gabriella Karefa-Johnson.’‘She was personally target and bullied. It is unacceptable,’ the fashion outlet wrote. ‘Now more than ever, voices like hers are needed and in a private meeting with Ye today she once again spoke her truth in a way she felt best, on her terms.’