Kanye West Removes Skirt Pictures From Web After Ridicule? (PHOTO)
Kanye West has reportedly been successful in his attempts to have stock photo agency Getty Images remove photos of him wearing a skirt on stage during a benefit concert.
The rapper and fashion designer performed during the hurricane Sandy relief benefit which was hosted by Getty on Dec. 12, 2012, and the following day, his rather unusual choice of attire made national headlines. West, 35, approached the stage dressed in a shirt along with a Givenchy thigh-length, black leather skirt and while some fans applauded his outfit, others did not.
On Tuesday, almost two months after the concert, Getty confirmed that they had been asked to remove several shots of West which were taken at the 12-12-12 show, but the agency would not elaborate as to why, according to Gawker.com.
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Some fans suspect West's sudden change of heart may have been influenced by the ongoing ridicule he has been subject to over his controversial outfit.
A number of critics including hip hop artists Chris Brown and Lord Jamar of the 1990s political-minded hip-hop group Brand Nubian openly mocked West for wearing the leather skirt.
While Brown, 23, legitimately argued that men wearing skirts blurs gender lines that he is simply not comfortable with, Jamar went as far as to ridicule West by calling him a homophobic slur in the song "Lift Up Your Skirt." Jamar also suggested that the rapper is "gay" and used words like "deplorable" to criticize West's fashion choice.
"First of all, it's not just jabs at Kanye West. It's anybody promoting the feminization of the Black man in hip-hop culture," Jamar told SOHH.com about his lyrics.
"[Kanye's] one of the first ones that you see in a skirt. Now you got other people following suit and rocking full-out dresses or they're trying to rock kilts," he continued "We're not Irish. We're not Europeans. Rocking kilts and all that is just another excuse to introduce that skirt style."
Those in favor of West's skirt such as Ariel Kaiser, Yahoo! Shine wardrobe stylist and lifestyle blogger, defended the rapper's outfit.
"I don't think he looks like a woman," Kasier told Yahoo. "He wasn't wearing a pink … He wasn't wearing a dress with heels. He was wearing something reminiscent of ancient warrior clothing."
