Kanye West brings out disgraced artists Marilyn Manson and DaBaby at his Donda listening event

Kanye West’s Donda listening event was laden with controversy in true ‘Ye’ fashion.  

At his Thursday evening album release event at Soldier Field in Chicago, the 44-year-old rapper shocked audiences as he brought out DaBaby and Marilyn Manson. 

Both on the receiving end of cancel culture following homophobic statements and ongoing sexual assault allegations, respectively, West put on a united front with the musical outcasts. 

West’s event included an erected replica of his childhood home in Chicago that took up the center of the stadium. 

Following nearly a two hour delay, the rapper emerged from inside the pale blue house to cheers as his mother’s voice repeated ‘Donda’ over and over.   

He appeared to first enter through the front door alongside daughter North, eight, and another small child, but later settled in on the set with Manson and DaBaby. 

West donned a full leather outfit with a black face mask and a baseball cap, while DaBaby was decked out in all-black too and sported a balaclava and sunglasses covering his face.   

Manson followed suit in an all-black ensemble and was seen with his signature white face paint and a black line drawn horizontally across his face.  

During the now polished album it was revealed that Kanye replaced a verse originally sung by Jay-Z with DaBaby – which made sense as to why he was in attendance, but Manson has no presence on the album.

It was the first time Manson – real name Brian Warner –  has been seen since sexual assault allegations made against him surfaced and four different women filed lawsuits against him.

Manson has denied all allegations made against him. 

Last month, model Ashley Smithline, 36, submitted her complaint against Manson in the Federal District Court for the Central District of California, outlining allegations that the rocker raped, whipped, burned and cut her.

The model also claims Manson ‘branded’ her by carving his initials into her thigh with a ‘knife emblazoned with a swastika.’  

Smithline said Mason first contacted her around the summer of 2010, allegedly telling her that he wanted to cast her in a remake of True Romance, according to the suit. 

She is one of 15 women, according to People, to accuse Manson of sexual, psychological and physical abuse, in addition to actress Evan Rachel Wood, Esmé Bianco and Manson’s former assistant Ashley Walters.

Manson has since denied all claims, referring to them as ‘horrible distortions of reality’ that misrepresent consensual relationships with ‘like-minded partners.’

As of February, Manson was under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for alleged abuse, the department told DailyMail.com at the time. It’s unclear if he’s still under investigation.    

Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco was the first woman to file a lawsuit against Manson, alleging that the singer raped and sexually battered her.

The complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, claims that Manson violated human-trafficking laws by bringing Bianco from London to Los Angeles under the pretence that she would be acting in a music video.

A month later, Walters sued former boss Manson for sexual assault, battery and harassment, claiming that the Tainted Love artist made her work 48-hours straight and occasionally groped and kissed her. 

The third is a woman who has chosen to remain anonymous. She is also among more than a dozen women to allege sexual impropriety against Manson. 

Last month, Manson turned himself into police after a warrant was issued for his arrest following an alleged spitting incident in 2019. 

The rocker allegedly spat at a female videographer before blowing his nose ‘at her’ during a concert at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion. According to TMZ, Manson handed himself over to officials, where he was booked and released shortly afterwards. 

Manson was released on personal recognisance bail under the conditions that he won’t commit any crimes while on release, won’t have any contact with the alleged victim, and will appear at all of his court hearings. 

Twitter erupted after he unveiled the unlikely trio with many expressing confusion and others expressing some level of outrage. 

‘Kanye West. Marilyn Manson. DaBaby. What the f**k,’ read one tweet. 

Another paid testament to Manson — who is a self-proclaimed Satanist — and the ties to West’s very pious album and image, while one more shared an image of chocolate bars dropped into a pot of ramen as a visual representation of the very random pairing. 

Other users marvelled over West’s decision to replace DaBaby with Jay-Z.     

Da Baby incurred massive backlash and had his name wiped from the lineup of several musical festivals — including Governor’s Ball and Lollapalooza— following a homophobic rant at Rolling Loud. 

The Cleveland born rapper — real name Jonathan Kirk — addressed the crowd during his set in July where he made insensitive and uninformed remarks relative to HIV/AIDS.

‘If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases, that’ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cellphone lighter up … Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d**k in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up,’ DaBaby ranted on stage. 

Madonna, Questlove and Miley Cyrus were among a slew of stars to to blast the six-time Grammy-nominated rapper for his comments.  

‘If you’re going to make hateful remarks to the LGBTQ+ community about HIV/AIDS then know your facts,’ longtime AIDS activist  Madonna- who boasts 43.8M social media followers – wrote on Instagram.

‘After decades of hard won scientific research – there are life saving medicines available to children born with HIV, to people who contract HIV through blood transfusions, dirty needles or exchange of bodily fluids. 

‘These new ARV’s can keep a person with AIDS alive for the rest of their lives! AIDS is not transmitted by standing next to someone in a crowd. I want to put my cellphone lighter up and pray for your ignorance. No one dies of AIDS in 2 or 3 weeks anymore. Thank God.’

Michigan-born Madge then addressed the UNC Greensboro drop-out’s sexist remarks about women’s ‘p***ies smelling like water’ and how they should ‘suck d*** in the parking lot.’ 

‘That only encourage more discrimination against women who fight daily against the oppression of living under the constraints of the male gaze,’ the seven-time Grammy winner wrote.

‘People like you are the reason we are still living in a world divided by fear. All human beings should be treated with dignity and respect regardless of race, gender, sexual preference or religious beliefs. AMEN.’

DaBaby – who boasts 43.5M social media followers – responded to Madonna by sarcastically smirking and saying via Instastory: ‘Hey Mo, don’t shake up dem t***ies!’

Meanwhile, The Tonight Show bandleader Questlove took back his dream list for an updated version of Summer of Soul, which had previously included DaBaby. 

The 50-year-old Roots drummer (born Ahmir Thompson) called the Red Light Green Light rapper an ‘idiot’ and ‘wrong’ and ‘not cool at all.’ 

‘Somebody Gotta say it: Homophobia/Transphobia/Xenophobia/Misogyny/Racism – this should go w/o saying is morally wrong,’ Questlove wrote on Instagram. 

‘That was f***ed up & wrong. I had to say something. Again I’m not doing this for “what do you want a cookie bro w your love ye one another posts?” Black people already have a code about publicly criticizing so I’ll admit I was slow to do this because I mean he don’t know me from Adam. So this will prolly get marked as “old hater” territory.’ 

Unsurprisingly, DaBaby – who slapped a female fan last year – responded to the five-time Grammy winner on Thursday with more bravado and crying laughing emojis. 

‘I ain’t even tryna be funny when I say… I do not know who dis n**** is dawg and do not care bout loosing you as a fan my boy LOL @questlove,’ the famous father-of-two wrote via Instastory. 

‘You or any other n**** who wanna play follow the leader. This superstar you was a fan of is stand up n****, yeen never seen one of these huh?’

DaBaby added: ‘These n****s really think they gone influence people to stop f***in w/the influence. They go crazy bout what I say not yall. I got da influence and the nuts n****. Y’all n****s cheerleaders.’ 

Meanwhile, Miley said she ‘would love to talk’ to DaBaby in the hopes of educating the embattled rapper. 

‘As a proud and loyal member of the LGBTQIA+ community, much of my life has been dedicated to encouraging love, acceptance, and open mindedness,’ began Cyrus, 28, in a letter published to Instagram 

‘The internet can fuel a lot of hate & anger and is the nucleus of cancel culture…but I believe it can also be a place filled with education, conversation, communication, & connection,’ she wrote.

Miley stated that it’s ‘easier to cancel someone than to find forgiveness and compassion in ourselves or take the time to change hearts and minds.’

‘There’s no more room for division if we want to keep seeing progress! Knowledge is power! I know I still have so much to learn!’ she concluded her post. 

DaBaby most recently issued an apology publicly at the Hot 97 festival where he said he ‘never, ever meant to offend anybody or say anything to make anybody feel any type of way.’  

Meanwhile, throughout the night West’s show included a funeral like procession of vehicles circling the premises and an army of extras who marched alongside of them. 

Other guests that took to the stage included West’s wife Kim Kardashian, who he is currently in the middle of divorce proceedings with. 

Kim, who filed for divorce from West in February citing ‘irreconcilable differences’, took to the stage wearing a wedding dress. 

The rapper’s merchandise was also a point of discussion on the night, after one shirt was revealed to say ‘2024’ on the back with a presidential seal on the front – suggesting he is set to make another bid for US president following his failed 2020 attempt.