Kanye West doesn’t “runaway” from his critics.
The notoriously outspoken rapper gave the crowd the middle finger Friday night while performing at at the Plaza Hotel during Harper’s Bazaar Icons Ball days after fashion media heavyweights dubbed his “Yeezy Season 4” show a complete abomination.
“You can’t be scared to fail,” he said sternly beneath smoky, dim lights, before dropping the mic and waltzing off stage at the end of his performance.
West, who covers the September issue of the magazine with wife Kim Kardashian, took the small stage at the Fashion Week event at around 11 p.m., but it appeared to be nothing short of a shot at redemption.
“Let’s have a toast to the douchebags,” he proclaimed, while belting his hit “Runaway,” middle finger held high for almost the entire song.
The crowd got the message loud and clear.
“This seems to be directed at us,” one insider mumbled as West recited the expletive-laden lyrics.
His latest “Yeezy Season 4” fashion show turned out to be utter chaos filled with falling and fainting models stuck in the heat Wednesday at Roosevelt Island where the show was staged at an abandoned smallpox hospital. Media fussed when the spectacle started nearly two hours late after they were bussed to the remote event. One writer compared it to “summer camp.”
West addressed many of the same attendees Friday night while on stage where he performed a set of five songs, two of which he recited with his back turned.
“At the beginning of this performance, I tried my best not to try. I tried to listen to all of the reporters tonight, and tried my best to stop trying, but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stop. No matter what they wrote, I just couldn’t stop. I appreciate all the years that you put up with me learning in front of you, and listening to the music at the same time,” he said.
The “Famous” singer had plenty of support from his family in the crowd, including Kim K, momager Kris, Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
The third annual event, sponsored by Stella Artois, Infor and Laura Mercier, was also attended by A-listers like Emily Ratajkowski, NBA star Russell Westbrook, Nina Agdal, Coco Rocha and Pamela Anderson.