Donald Trump lies naked with Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Bill Cosby and Kanye West in a grainy video released with West’s new single, Famous, in a line-up of wax models the rapper says is “a comment on fame”.
West released the video on Friday night in conjunction with a party in Los Angeles and an interview in Vanity Fair. In the video, the models lie as if sleeping amid crumpled white sheets on an enormous bed, as a camera pans slowly over their faces and bodies, pausing over each famous figure and parts of their anatomy.
George W Bush appears near Trump, then fashion editor Anna Wintour, followed by Rihanna and Chris Brown, Swift, West and Kardashian. Then the camera shows Ray J, Amber Rose, Caitlyn Jenner and Bill Cosby.
The composition is arranged to mirror the painting Sleep, by realist artist Vincent Desiderio. The video was filmed over three months with collaborators, according to the magazine.
Nearly all the figures in the video have some kind of history with West. He married Kardashian and Jenner is a former in-law. He dated Amber Rose, and Kardashian featured in a sex tape with Ray J. West has collaborated with Rihanna, who dated Brown, who pleaded guilty to assaulting her.
West and Swift have an on-off feud of dubious authenticity dating back to 2009, when West stormed an awards ceremony stage during Swift’s acceptance speech. (In the song, West sings: “I made that bitch famous.”)
In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, West said: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” The former president later described it as the worst moment of his eight years in office.
Kanye took Vincent Desiderio's "Sleep" & brought it to life with a modern twist.. if that isn't genius idk what is. pic.twitter.com/bSDddfQFNo
— RAY MUÑOZ (@raymunoz94) June 25, 2016
The rapper told Vanity Fair: “Maybe in some alternative universe me and George Bush could have been friends. I could have been his OJ Simpson black friend on the golf course.”
Trump has praised West, who he said “loves Trump”. West joked at an awards ceremony last year that he may run for president in 2020.
In the magazine interview, West said the video was not meant to show support or opposition to any of the people depicted.
“It’s a comment on fame,” he said.
In April, Wintour described West’s fashion as “migrant chic”. The same month, West tweeted “BILL COSBY INNOCENT !!!!!!!!!!” after court proceedings began against the comedian, who is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman.
West has claimed his tweets are a form of performance art.
