The world was both shocked and confused when yesterday, Kanye West, accompanied by conservative commentator Candice Owens, made his way to the TMZ offices to preach his sermon of love and free thought, including a controversial statement on the meaning of slavery.
One employee, TMZ Senior Producer Van Lathan, was not impressed by Kanye's statements, and proceeded to confront him in what would eventually become a viral video. Complex sat down with Lathan today, and spoke to him about why he decided to speak up against Kanye, and what his thoughts on the artist are now.
When asked about his frustration in speaking to Kanye, Lathan explained that the experience meeting Kanye for the first time was shocking to him.
"Meeting him and seeing him in here today, obviously there's some sort of narrative or ministry that he's trying to push, but it's frustrating to see how in the world he fell so far in terms of relatability from where we are," said Lathan. "It's shocking. When he said some of the things he said, it was almost like looking at everything that I looked up to and had influenced me so much, and wondered, was it all bullshit?"
He also goes on to say that Kanye is wielding a dangerous weapon that he doesn't know how to use by making these statements, and that he's decided to opt out of listening to Kanye's next album, as he was too disappointed in what he was saying.
Lathan finishes by stating how he feels after confronting Kanye with, ""I Feel Sad That I Lost A Hero."