A "Very Close" Relationship?

Developing story at Media TakeOut: Is there is a "very close bond" between Kanye West and John Legend?: Reportedly, a member of Kanye's entourage says the "platinum selling artists routinely share a hotel room while on the road" and has offered some evidence.

Maybe it's an explanation for Kanye's surprise engagement.

The Real Reason Kanye West Got Enagged (Media TakeOut)

Previously:

Kanye West Gets Engaged (Concrete Loop) John Legend & Cornel West vs Homophobia (R20) Kanye on Gay Bashing (Rod2.0) Kanye: "My Own Homophobia" (Rod 2.0) Hip-Hop and Homophobia (Rod 2.0) Kanye Trifecta (Rod 2.0) What Becomes a Legend? (Rod 2.0) September Arena (Rod 2.0) Kanye's Arena (Rod 2.0)

Comments

[Derrick from Philly]

With all this silly gossip, I hope we haven't forced Kanye onto the "down low".

[Charles]

It amazes me that whenever someone speaks out against homobobia, rumors begin to surface about the artist's sexuality. There was also another rumor linking kanye with another male entertainer who has also spoken out against homophia. We in the sgl community have to be mindful not to feed into gossip that could be planted by the very people who wish to slander these artist because of the stance they have taken. If they are sgl people then fine. If not, that's fine too. Until Kanye or any of these brother's is serving me breakfast in bed after a hot night in the sack, I'm going to assume they are just correct thinking straight dudes.

[ReggieH]

I think Charles' comments are correct: whenever someone does not conform to homophobia or dares to be an 'untraditional' man, out comes the gay rumors....as if their being gay was a bad thing. It's a way of policeing others, and really has to stop. If they are, great, if they're not, great, if one is and the other isn't, that's great too.

BTW: Conde Nast fashion magazine readers (ie GQ and Details, etc) will be getting a 'Fashion Rocks' supplement along with their magazine this month, a promo piece for an upcoming CSB special. There's a great spread of Legend, Kanye, and Common racing along in a speedboat a la Miami Vice. And a slammin Pharell Vuitton ad!

[Midnight Lounge]

Wow. Interesting dish, no doubt. But perhaps Legend and West are just two more spokes in the constant wheel of projection we spin 'round.

Regardless, I'll take this time and project my gayness on Legend. Because I love him.

[11]

Bullsh*t. Dudes can be tight without being gay. And lets put this thing in perspective. Kanye doesn't get rooms - het gets suites. PRESIDENTIAL suites. So if two guys want to stay in a presidential suite that's fine. The question people need to ask is this "source" still with Kanye's entourage? Umm, probably not. Bitter niggas.

[Carlos]

Mediatakeout is a trashy website that spreads false rumors and innuendo with malicious intent and reckless disregard for truth. Moreover, it's coverage of gay rumors is particularly salicious and homophobic. Mediatakeout is crap.

[Dre]

This is BullS@#$. People wonder why brothas will not come out who are in the closet....part of the reason is because of B.S. like this from the African American community. Kanye and John Legend are not gay and if they were, so what?!? Lets not feed into B.S. from sites like MediaTakeOut, etc.

[Bernie]

MediaTakeOut was the source of some totally inaccurate BS purporting to show Michael Vick smoking a joint in public. Some idiot bloggers picked up on it, but there was not one ounce of truth to the item. That was all I needed to know about the validity of that website as a source of legitimate information.

[Rod Mc]

It's a rumor, folks, we're allowed to laugh sometimes. How can you be gay and never dish? LOL Just yesterday, Gabrielle Union said that, "You haven't really made it until you've got the gay rumors."

Kanye has faced these rumors for years--before his MTV interview--and so has John Legend. Everyone knows that I totally love JL so I'm gonna try to imagine all sorts of things about him.

BTW, I'm shocked at all the newfound support that John Legend and Kanye have on this site. I've been blogging about both of them for a year. And very, very few people have even commented. Check their categories. When Legend said on Bill Maher that blacks shouldn't be homophobic--y'all were quiet as church mice. Only. Three. Comments.

[Josh]

What was there to say? We agreed.

[seahawk]

I'm mystified by the backlash.
(1) Everyone realizes that a lot of content on the internet is for entertainment purposes only, and if you're taking these things seriously, you need to chill.
Mediatakeout is a silly gossip site. They realize it and so should we.
(2) White folks can come out, and still have careers (Rosie, Elton, Ellen, etc.). But blacks are about 30 years behind the curve when it comes to sgl people. Until ONE black celeb comes out (or is forced out), then they'll feel forced to stay closeted. They'll feel forced to run and get engaged when the rumors get heated.
I can't imagine the misery Luther must have felt - living in a platinum closet, unable to walk hand-in-hand with his man.
(3) Kanye and Legend are big boys, and they can handle it. Gay or not, the rumors come with the turf, and Latifah, LL, and Jamie Foxx seem to do their thing without tripping. So why are y'all tripping?

[Bernie]

Ok, well since it's just a rumor and probably a false one at that, and posted here for fun, I'll simply say I would definitely do Kanye. NO doubt about it.

Thank you for letting me share.

[Dexter]

There are many gossipy sites on the internet, but Mediatakeout is particularly tawdry and erroneous in its reports. It purports to be a Drudgereport for the urban community, but it has reported a series of stories have proven to be flat out false and made up. It's one thing to playfully report things as silly speculation, but Mediatakeout crosses the line by making stuff up. I think the reaction here is to the distasteful site Mediatakeout as well as the stupidity of its latest rumors about Kanye and John Legend.
Also, the black gay community needs to mature a bit. Some black gay men whisper and squeal like little girls about every heterosexual-identified black male that is gay-friendly in a manner that inhibits other heterosexual men from associating with gay men. Many of us have lots of heterosexual male friends and don't think their support or association with us makes them any less heterosexual. It is rather immature and erroneous to insinuate that being pro-gay makes one less heterosexual.

[Cadence]

I think everyone is upset because:
1. We don't want to give Mediatakeout any attention. This is a credible website, and since the gossip appears here, many will take it as fact, and many bloggers won't have any problem posting it on their sites.

and,
2. Most of the time, people in the Black community see calling someone gay as an insult. I've even seen this at times on this site. If you don't like someone, just call him gay or a fag. We need to get past this high school mentality, and stop condoning people using gay as a slur.

[patrick s]

LOL, this is freakin' hilarious.
SOME of you all are TOO uptight.
I'm sorry, but I love me some Rod, this site is too FIERCE so I HAVE to step in.

It's GOSSIP. We gossip about EVERYONE in the world off this site. Every ACTOR, FOOTBALL player, model, etc. Even OPRAH. In YAHOO Groups, on other blogs, in private convos, all damn day. But the FEW times Rod posts "is he gay" gossip, he's always dragged across the coals, as if EVERYTHING black and gay-related has to have an imaginary vetting process.

And to be honest, he's had to say the "BITCHES! I told you so!" a few TOO MANY times, so when he tends to give a heads up, I for one will listen. Didn't he warn us MONTHS in advance about TAYE DIGS and RAZ B? And TYSON? Those billboards in NYC? DANIEL NORELL?? Even last season he was the ONLY ONE talking about NOAH's ARC and now every sissy online wants to recap and pretend they have supported the show from day one. Michael KNIGHT on RUNWAY. Dang, he even knew months in advance that MARC WILLIAMS would BOTTOM. He's our information guru, give the man his props. Bottom line, if he gives Media Take Out credibility on this one, there might be a grain of truth.

The white gay boys have huge sites like Towleroad, Socialite, Queerty, Perez, Gawker (I think Rod is with them?) that speculate all day about Jake Gyllenhaal or Jesse Metcalfe and everyone else. And their blogs and magazines still have mega-credibility, so, let's keep it real. It's not the end of the world.

[greg]

John Legend plus Kanye ... I don't think so. Two ladies. That never would work. Something tells me that Kanye would try to be the top.

[Ian]

Please don't feed the pigeons. Mediatakeout is revolting.

[Gdawg]

I think we have all seen the TOUGHEST looking dudes be one of the boys (Hell look at Rod!).. So it wouldnt surprise me if he was on the D.L. However I think it is quite a slap in the face on his part because he is one of the hip-hop artists who have actually spoken about homophobia in hip-hop which is something that definatley needs to be said.. Bottom line we will never know for sure but I wouldnt easily support this rumor

[ff]

hard to give love Kanye when he's droppin the term "faggots" on new records. not really practicin what he's preachin

[Mark]

I think the problem people have - and don't take this personally Rod - is that the gay community will never get allies if everytime some one speaks up for equality, they're accused of being gay. Because whether its right or wrong, the truth is that in mainstream society being gay has a negative connotation.

Seahawk -
Forcing someone out of the closet is just wrong. Any of you who are gay knows that there was a time where you would have been seriously hurt had someone outed you before you were ready. Give other people that same respect.

And why are people so blown away that folks don't want to come out anyway!? People are still being killed, excommunicated from their places of worship, fired from their jobs and disowned by their families in AMERICA in 2006 for coming out!? What don't you understand about people's reluctance!? Forcing people out of the closet is not going to make America more accepting. It will give America greater opportunities to discriminate.

[divaROSSishere!]

I AM STILL SALIVATING OVER JL's HEADSNAPPIN IVORY SUIT HE WORE TO A FORGETTABLE 2005 AWARD SHOW!!!

THE MAN HAS CLASS BUT IT WAS DISAPPOINTING TO SEE HIM DAMN NEAR RUIN THE SUIT WHEN HE ALMOST SPILLED ALL HIS tea WITH THAT SLOW LIONESS WALK--HIPS AND ALL
AND THAT GIRLISH COY HAND OVER MOUTH

FORTUNATELY HE SAVED HIS DESIGNER ENSEMBLE AND HIMSELF WHEN HE ACCEPTED THE AWARD IN A SEDUCTIVE AND ELOQUENT BARITONE/TENOR APPRECIATIVE SPEECH

class he's got....
a%% he's got it...
AM I A FAN?????

[greg]

Ooh, I'm steamin' upset right now. Folks, I'll come out and say it. We as black people in general and gay men in particular can sometimes be too hypocritical and too sensitive. If anything, that's what that ABC News special should have revealed.

We all gossip and whisper and speculate and it's just crazy stupid to act sanctimonious. Are we urbane, sophisticated gay men or student missionaries? We all made jokes about Bow Wow for months. Now that there is word that he is doing a gay movie--do we suddenly stop?

Here's an example. Jake Gylenhaal (sp?) made Brokeback Mountain. Towleroad was a huge supporter of that movie but it hasn't stopped that same blog from poking fun at Jake and hinting that he is gay. Are the white boys saying, "Stop! Then no one will ever suppotrt us again?" HELL NO. They are much more sophisticated than that. That is the bottom line. Rod 2.0 is a very spohisticated site and not everyone can appreciate it.

And speaking of that, Rod's comment was the gospel. He has been talking up Kanye and John Legend for a year. Steadily, way before they made pro-gay statements. I haven't seen nary a blogger--maybe just Keith a few times--say anything related to them. John Legend made taht comment, it barely made a blip on the radar. The same thing with Taye Diggs, months before Will & Grace. So do don't even go there with him.

Let us not forget that he was the ONLY ONE defending Raz B last summer--remember, when a number of black gay men on this very page were saying that Raz was trying to make a quick buck and sell his album? Remember that? Now Raz is on Noah's Arc and we conveniently forgot how many of us were unwilling to support him. Rod was the first one to welcome him, so, you all are preachiong to choir about straight allies. I can remember a few heated exchanges on here when many brothas were saying they didnt need Raz, Taye, Tyson Beckford etc. to help them fight homophobia and Rod was saying just the opposite.

Personally, I don't want anything about this website to change. It's the only one we have that brings us news about black gay men around the country and the world. Instead of the usual Essence, Oprah and Beyonce...we get Eartha Kitt, beautiful black models in foreign magazines and news of gay black activists in Poland. Instead of American Idol chatter...we get Project Runway and news of Laurence Fishburne taking on a small gay stage role. We should rejoice in this site and realize by now that he marches to a totally different beat. That's why I love it. I'm tired of all of us acting like cardboard cut-outs.

For the record, I think John and Kanye would be a lovely couple. Pretty boy and wanna be homothug. Fabulous!

[Dexter]

"We all made jokes about Bow Wow for months. Now that there is word that he is doing a gay movie--do we suddenly stop?"

SPeak for yourself dude. Some gay men presume that all same-sex oriented men act the same tired stereotypical ways. I don't go around gossiping like a schoolgirl about other people's sexual orientation, particularly in a manner that suggests that homosexuality is scandalous, salacious, gossipy fodder. I have the same objections about the manner in which so many white gay bloggers speculate about other people's sexual orientation. There is nothing wrong with same-sex orientation or activity, so why do so many gay bloggers handle gay speculation in such a tawdry, sleazy manner?
Also some of you seemed in a Dark Age time warp where you associate being gay-friendly with being gay. There are many pro-gay heterosexual men out there, particularly in my generation of under 25 year olds. Heterosexual men are going to gay clubs, hanging out with gay friends, even double dating with their gay friends as some of my heterosexual male friends do. Perhaps some of you grew up in a time when this was rare. It's not anymore. Realize that and stop being so regressive.

[seahawk]

@greg:
you betta say that, mufuka!
Rod is the man.

[Cadence]

Greg, how is gossiping and reinforcing the idea that homosexuality is something to be ashamed of progressive? It would be more progressive to believe that is is alright for a straight man to go to a gay club, or believe that a straight actor can portray a gay character on tv or film. There's nothing progressive about acting like a twelve year old and saying that a person is gay in an attempt to hurt that person.

BTW, I don't think anyone was putting down this site. There is no arguement that Rod does an incredible job, and he is in a class by himself. I don't think there is another blog that is as informative and diverse as this one.