Kanye West stunned fans with a rare public appearance Sunday at the BET Awards.
The musician, whose face was completely covered in a hat, dark sunglasses and black mask, was at the event to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to friend Sean "Diddy" Combs with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.
"How do we crown our kings? How do we appreciate our kings?" West said onstage, according to People.
"I go to him for advice to this day. He inspires so many of my choices, so many of my life choices. My wife's choices," West continued, referencing his ex-wife Kim Kardashian. "Thanks for that, Puff," he added with a laugh.
West went on to explain that he "took a little hiatus," thinking that he wanted to declare himself "legally dead for a year."
"I just want to be off the grid and Puff is pretty persistent, but I had to think, bro, it's like, people get amnesia," he continued. "Like I should never have Puff have to ever call more than one time. Any of us in this room if Puff ever need us, we need to jump and be there. This man has been through [and] survived a lot of stuff and broke down a lot of doors so we can be standing ... he broke down so many doors of classism, taste, swag. Puff, if I never told you I love you, you're my brother."
West's last awards show appearance was at the Grammys in April. He received five nominations but was prohibited from performing at the April ceremony due to "concerning online behavior."
In March, the rapper was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours after posting a racial slur directed at "The Daily Show" host Trevor Noah who, in a segment of the show, aired concerns about West's recent treatment of Kardashian and her boyfriend, comedian Pete Davidson.
In recent activity on social media, West posted two videos for his new song "Eazy" depicting a likeness of Davidson being abused and tortured.
Since then, Kardashian, who filed for divorce in February last year, and West seem to be in a better place, with the pair celebrating Father's Day last week with their four kids: Psalm, 3, Chicago, 4, Saint, 6, and North, 9.
"We had Father's Day at the house," Kim said during an appearance on "Today." "The kids spent the day with him and then we had a big Father's Day dinner and North cooked."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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