A Forbes headline from earlier this year declared that “Kanye West is now officially a billionaire (and he really wants the world to know).” This was further backed up by the magazine’s new “The Celebrity 100” list it unveiled today (June 4), placing West as the highest-paid musician in the world and the second-highest paid celebrity. (Notably, he placed only below his family member Kylie Jenner.)
West, for his part, has stayed publicly quiet about the accolade on social media, where he’s also chosen not to weigh in on the ongoing protests against police violence and the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police, as well as the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and more Black men and women. But according to new reports, West has reportedly chosen to act: He’s donated $2 million to support the families of Floyd, Taylor, and Arbery.
TMZ reports the donation includes a college savings fund for Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter, Gianna, as well as funding for legal fees of the families of Taylor and Arbery. West has also apparently given separate donations to help support Black-owned businesses nationwide, and specifically in Chicago, his hometown.
On June 3, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison upgraded the charges against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck until he was dead, from third degree murder to second degree murder. The three other officers at the scene were also charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder.
The officers who fired the shots that killed Taylor in Louisville, after entering her home on a so-called “no-knock warrant” while she was asleep, have not been charged. Three men have been arrested and charged with murder in the wake of Arbery’s death after he was shot and killed while jogging in Georgia.
News of West’s support comes a few days after his past collaborator The Weeknd shared the receipts of his own donations to National Bail Out, Know Your Rights, and Black Lives Matter, totaling $500,000. Likewise, Drake reportedly donated $100,000 to National Bail Out as well.
