Kanye West says he wore a 'White Lives Matter' shirt because of his 'connection with God' and 'brilliance'

• Kanye West addressed in a interview the "White Lives Matter" shirt he wore earlier this week.
• The rapper said he had a "gut instinct" to wear the shirt, which he thought was "funny."

Kanye West addressed the "White Lives Matter" shirt he wore earlier this week in a nearly hour-long interview with Tucker Carlson on Thursday, telling the Fox host that he thought the garment was "funny."

The rapper, now known as Ye, sported the shirt at his Yeezy fashion show at Paris Fashion Week on Monday, sparking controversy online and within his own circle, he told Carlson.

"I had someone call me last night and say anyone wearing a 'White Lives Matter' shirt is going to get greenlit," West said. "That means beat up."

But West said he didn't care what others thought about his fashion choices or political views, telling Carlson that he had a "gut instinct" to wear the shirt.

"I do certain things from a feeling. I just channel the energy, it just feels right," he said. "It's using a gut instinct, a connection with God, and just brilliance."

In a disjointed monologue, West went on to compare his decision to wear the "White Lives Matter" shirt to ice skater Tonya Harding landing the Triple Axel in 1991.

West also told Carlson that his father, a former Black Panther, texted him about the shirt, saying he thought it was funny.

"Just a Black man stating the obvious," West said his father told him.

"The answer to why I wrote "White Lives Matter" on a shirt is because they do," West said. "It's the obvious thing."

The Anti-Defamation League has said the phrase has deeply racist connotations and has been used as a slogan by some white supremacist groups.

But West suggested that the phrase was controversial because society wants to "separate" the Black community.

During the interview, West also referenced Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and Gigi Hadid, who publicly criticized West wearing the shirt and featuring it in his YZYSZN9 fashion show in Paris.

Karefa-Johnson called West's choices a "danger" because the message "justifies mass incarceration, murder en mass, indeed even the advent of slavery."

After the rapper publicly criticized Karefa-Johnson and her outfit in a now-deleted Instagram post, Hadid called him a "bully and a joke."