Kanye West Applies For Refugee Status
Should celebrities be legally classified as a protected class of individuals?Â  Kanye West thinks so when it comes to the way the press and paparazzi treat famous people. Â The rapper, producer and fashion designer reportedlyÂ applied forÂ Temporary Protected StatusÂ under a law designed to safeguard persecuted refugees. Â The legislation assists individualsÂ âwishing to avoid returning to their homeland because of civil strife.â âWhen I tryÂ to get from the airport to my home, I become a target for abuse and my family isÂ also in danger,â explained West. âAt times they make me want to avoid getting back to my own home. Doesnât that mean me and my family arenât protected because of the class weâre in? Â Genius level artists need legalÂ protection like exiled people get. Â The amount of taxes I pay makes me entitled.â Westâs encounters with photographersÂ have led to at least one lawsuit. Â Last July, West received a 2-year probation sentence following a plea of no contest to a misdemeanor battery and grand theft charge. Â Photographer Daniel Ramos accused West of punching him and throwing his camera toÂ the ground during an unprovoked attack at Los Angeles International Airport. Westâs recent remarks comparing photographers to Nazis, and equating the struggles faced by celebrities to acts of violence endured by civil rights freedom fighters have created a considerable amount ofÂ controversy.Â  At a concert last July, the singer again raised eyebrows when he comparedÂ the treatment he receives from tabloid photographers to be similar to an act of rape. âThatâs what I said,âÂ West reiterated, and if you are in my life, living the way I do at my level, you would know what Iâm talking about.â No word yet on when the decision on Westâs applicationÂ will be made.