Kanye West and Lorde photographed outside the Christian Dior show in Paris, March 2015. / Getty
The 38-year-old rapper - who last weekend claimed he owes $53 million in bills - has taken to Twitter to demand education be made cheaper in America after revealing one of his pals earns $370 a day but has to fork out $400 for one school text book for her child.
KANYE WEST ✔ @kanyewest
I’d rather teachers got paid more and books cost less … #2020
"Education puts Americans into debt before they even get a chance to get started…
"We have to lower the price of textbooks… "I’d rather teachers got paid more and books cost less … #2020 (sic)".
Lorde’s mother, Sonja Yelich, 50, who trained as a teacher, retweeted Kanye’s message in support.
But a 52-year-old New Zealand journalist who goes by the Twitter pseudonym 'ToucheTurtle', whom SCOUT has chosen not to name, criticised the New Zealand poet about her stance.
“I get that you didn’t have much sleep, but why help promote KW’s self-serving nonsense? He cares about teachers? Yeah, right!,” he tweeted.
The 50-year-old mother-of-four was having none of it, let alone the patronising reference to any late-night Grammy celebrations in Los Angeles, where she is currently based with her pop star daughter, Lorde.
“I care about Teachers,” Yelich responded. “I trained as a Teacher. I don’t care who the messenger is – it’s the same fact – pay teachers more.”
“And further,” she added. “Piss off!”
Yelich, who is in Los Angeles with her famous daughter, later tweeted that she feels “mean about blocking someone” on the social media platform “but sometimes it's just gotta happen”.
Toucheturtle has since deleted his tweets.
Yelich may have sided with West on his education views, but as to his recent outburst on Tayor Swift, Lorde’s mother has stayed quiet.
It is a complicated circle of fame. Lorde, who is close friends with Swift, has ties to West.
The 19-year-old Kiwi sat front row seat at his second season Yeezy launch at New York Fashion Week last September, and earlier, in March, the pair hung out together in Paris.
Lorde, Kendall Jenner and Jaden Smith attend Kanye West Yeezy season 2 during New York Fashion Week, September 2015. / Getty
Lorde and Kanye were twinsies in their all-black ensembles and dour expressions at the Christian Dior runway show in the French capital.
The pair also collaborated on a makeover of the song 'Yellow Flicker Beat' and co-produced the track which they titled ‘Flicker (Kanye West Rework)’.
Kanye West and Lorde attend the Christian Dior show in Paris, March 2015. / Getty
And yet, Lorde celebrated with Swift at the Grammy after-parties, only hours after the pop star, who won the Album of the Year award, made a damning reference to Kanye onstage following his derision of Taylor in his latest track.
Taylor Swift and Lorde attend the Republic Records Grammy after-party this week. / Getty
West has used the social media platform frequently this past week, promoting his new album The Life Of Pablo, claiming to be US$53 million in debt and asking billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to fund his artistic ideas.
However, his use of Twitter as political plea to lower the cost of education is different, and has garnered support.
The rapper referenced a friend who despite a healthy wage, struggles to afford her son's school textbooks.
West, the father of two small children, tweeted: "I have a friend who works really hard and makes $370 dollars a day...," he wrote, "Her son just got in a really good school and his textbooks are like $400 dollars each...I mean, his mom has to work 2 days just to afford 1 book for her son ...she's giving everything she has to make sure her son has a better future..."
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