Tory Lanez is standing up for Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, by filing a petition to protect Black men, Vibe reports. The petition, entitled “Keep Our Black Men On Coachella And All Other Festivals,” comes after hundreds signed another petition calling for West’s removal from the Coachella lineup, Page Six reports.
Ye has been under fire amid his divorce from Kim Kardashian. In one of several videos he shared discussing his split from Kardashian, Ye revealed that he had called “a bunch of people I knew and the best advice I got was right now was from Tory Lanez,” Hot New Hip Hop reports.
Lanez later received backlash after social media learned of Ye’s videos, but the “Say It” singer was quick to jump to Ye’s defense.
“There should never be a problem with a man saying that the best advice he heard was to ‘STOP AND PRAY FOR DIRECTION FROM GOD FIRST,’ Lanez said in a tweet. “God doesn’t choose his MESSENGERS conventionally or biased … Long as the message got to him . Gods work is done .. no matter who it comes from.”
Now, according to Vibe, Lanez is taking his support a step further with a petition on Change.org, calling for mass support of Black men in the entertainment industry.
“We are watching the industry and fake cancel culture remove all of our legendary black men, black celebrities and black moguls,” Lanez wrote on the petition. “From festivals, from our culture and from our lives. And it starts with us. We must make a change… so we can keep our black men thriving.”
“We stood for equal rights of black men 2 years ago with GEORGE FLOYD .. what changed from ‘then to now’ in regards of the protection of BLACK MEN,” he added.
Lanez concluded the petition with a call to action.
“STAND FOR US … WE ARE THE BACK BONE OF CULTURE,” he wrote. “If we lose this fight we lose the HEAD of the same culture that we have known and loved and OWNED for the last 2000 years … the BLACK MAN NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED . The first step is PROTECTING OUR CULTURE !! HELP US.”
As of Wednesday, the petition has garnered over 900 signatures, nearing Lanez’s goal of 1000.
Like Ye, the “Alone at Prom” rapper has caught some heat for his treatment of women. Lanez currently has an on-going case for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020, Vulture reports. According to BuzzFeed, if Lanez is convicted, he could receive a maximum sentence of 22 years and eight months in prison.
