Steve McQueen Admits He’s ‘Disappointed’ With Kanye West, But He Still Loves Him

Like a lot of people, Steve McQueen is conflicted about Kanye West. The “Widows” director was asked about his friend by IndieWire’s Eric Kohn as part of an upcoming interview, and admitted that, though he’s been “disappointed with his actions recently,” he still loves him.

West most recently made headlines by ramping up his vocal support for Donald Trump, including wearing a Make America Great Again hat while performing on “Saturday Night Live” and even meeting with him in the Oval Office. In 2015, McQueen directed the musician’s nine-minute “All Day / I Feel Like That” video.

“First of all, I love Kanye. There’s no doubt about that. This is a situation where I can’t answer certain questions, I can’t answer to certain things because I don’t agree with them,” McQueen said. “I can’t answer questions about him, for him. That’s not doable. I’ve been disappointed with his actions recently, but at the same time, I love him. It’s very difficult sometimes to witness. But people go through certain situations, phases, and that’s about as much as I can say about it, really.”

Can he still listen to Kanye’s music, though? “Well, I would hope so,” he responded. “It’s one of those things where it’s a journey and it’s not over yet. We’ll see what happens.”

McQueen feels that “everything is political,” which isn’t to say that he doesn’t think Trump supporters can’t enjoy “Widows.” “I think they might be surprised by the movie. Well, great. For me, my biggest wish for this movie is that it distracts people for at least 50 seconds from being on their phone,” he said.

“If that happens, I think I’ve won. Once they leave the movie theater, one ponders for a moment or two — or maybe it comes at them later in the day. That’s as much as an artist can hope for.”

Additional reporting by Eric Kohn.