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Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, referred to Trevor Noah on Instagram using a racial slur after the "Daily Show" host criticized Ye's actions towards Kim Kardashian amid their ongoing divorce.
In a segment that aired on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" on Tuesday, Noah urged audiences to pay attention to the ongoing dispute between Kardashian, her ex-husband Ye, and her new boyfriend, Pete Davidson.
"This thing, it's spun into a story that seems fully tabloid but I think — I think deserves a little more awareness from the general public, because it touches on something that is more sensitive and serious than people would like to admit," Noah said on the show.
Noah criticized Ye's actions towards Kardashian, saying that the rapper was harassing her, and that the incident was "[shining] a spotlight on what so many women go through when they choose to leave." The host compared the situation to his childhood, saying that he was raised in an abusive household from ages 9 to 16 and that people told his mother that she was "overreacting." Noah's stepfather shot his mother in the head after their divorce, he told People in 2017. Noah's mother survived the attack.
"If Kim cannot escape this, Kim Kardashian, then what chance do normal women have?" Noah said during the unscripted 10-minute segment.
In response to the segment, Ye posted an image of a Google search result for Noah on Instagram. In the caption of the post, he parodied the lyrics of the spiritual "Kumbaya," referring to Noah using a term that, according to a 2020 story from Andscape associate editor Brando Simeo Starkey, is "an intraracial slur to castigate a certain type of Black person who betrays race," often used by another Black person.
Kardashian first filed for divorce from Ye in February 2021. In early March, a California judge granted her December 2021 request to be declared "legally single," reverting her single marital status and maiden name.
In recent months, Ye has begged for Kardashian to get back together with him and called out her boyfriend Davidson on social media and in a music video that appears to show Ye burying an animated version of Davidson. Ye and Kardashian have also exchanged words on social media, with Kardashian most recently disputing Ye's claim on Monday that he had been "allowed" to see the couple's four children a week prior.
Representatives for Ye, Kardashian, Davidson, and Noah did not immediately return Insider's requests for comment.
