John Legend on Kanye West: Open to a Private Talk, But Not Making Music Together Again
Written by Kiss Media on 25 October 2026
Forgiving an old friend and making music with him again are two very different things — at least as far as John Legend is concerned.
While promoting his new album Muse, Legend opened up to Complex about where things stand with his former G.O.O.D. Music collaborator Kanye West. He has not ruled out speaking with West privately, but he is considerably less interested in reviving their creative partnership — and the reason has less to do with their personal disagreements than with West’s history of inflammatory remarks about Black and Jewish communities.
“He’s not reached out to me,” Legend said. “So I don’t want to act like I’ve refused to meet up with him or talk with him. But if we did talk, it wouldn’t be a public reunion. It would be man-to-man, like a private conversation.”
“I don’t have a hard time forgiving anybody personally for any slight — and, you know, he’s said a few stray comments about me. But he hasn’t done much to harm me, or with the intent to harm me at all.”
The two musicians go back to the early 2000s, when West helped launch Legend’s career through G.O.O.D. Music and executive produced his debut album, Get Lifted. Their relationship deteriorated years later, particularly after Legend declined to support West’s 2020 presidential campaign. In a 2022 interview, Legend acknowledged that their political disagreements had damaged their friendship.
West has since faced widespread condemnation for repeatedly making antisemitic statements and praising Adolf Hitler. In January 2026, he purchased a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal apologizing for his behavior and discussing his mental health struggles. He acknowledged the harm his conduct caused while expressing a desire to make amends.
Legend, however, does not believe the public apology sufficiently addresses the damage. He told Complex that West needs to make a greater effort to repair his relationship with the communities he offended rather than focus on reconciling with individual celebrities. “Any forgiveness that he needs to seek isn’t about anything he’s done to me,” Legend stated. “I feel like what he’s done to society has been really harmful. What he said about entire communities has been really harmful. The Black community, the Jewish community, those things have been really harmful.”
“I don’t think I’m interested in making art with him,” Legend also shared, although he acknowledged that his feelings could change years down the line.
The subject arose as Legend celebrated Friday’s (Oct. 23) release of Muse, his first full-length collaboration with Pharrell Williams. Legend recently told the Associated Press that West’s involvement in executive producing his earlier albums was one reason a complete Pharrell-produced project had not happened sooner. Now working with Republic Records, he says he has greater independence to pursue whichever creative partnerships interest him — and that freedom has finally brought his decades-long friendship with Pharrell into the studio for an entire album, with Clipse appearing on the song “Bodies on the Floor.”
No matter where the road leads for Legend and Ye, one thing is certain: Legend’s catalog remains timeless. Revisit his classic “All of Me” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=450p7goxZqg
Do you think John Legend and Kanye West will ever make music together again? Sound off in the comments, and send your requests to the request line at +1 302-357-9831.
Source: HotNewHipHop
