Kid Cudi has publicly defended his decision to reconcile with Kanye West after the pair appeared together, alongside guests including Rick Ross, Travis Scott and Don Toliver, at Cudi's Friday night concert in Chicago. He responded on X to radio DJ Peter Rosenberg, who had said he was "disappointed" in people being "openly lame about Kanye," insisting that his near two-decade friendship and creative partnership with West entitles him to make his own judgement, regardless of outside criticism.

Cudi said he had held West "accountable" in the past and was the "hardest on him out of anybody," but believes West's apology over past antisemitic remarks was sincere and that his mental health has since improved; West had issued a public apology via a Wall Street Journal advert in January after years of controversy. The two have fallen out repeatedly, including a 2025 CBS Mornings interview in which Cudi said West broke "the code of a friendship," and a 2022 spat sparked by West's objection to Cudi's friendship with Pete Davidson.