As much as West would love to consider himself above everyone else and disregard critique of anything that he says or does, the truth is that he’s not beyond reproach. And for someone who acts like he’s beyond judgment, he cares a lot about what people think; that’s why it’s so common to see him lash out when public opinion isn’t in his favor. In a matter of hours, West took to his Instagram page to call out Karefa-Johnson in a since-deleted post. On his profile, he attacked and mocked the fashion journalist’s personal style to his 17.9 million followers, stating she is “not a fashion person.” “If you speak on Ye,” West captioned his cyberbullying, “Ima would speak on you.” 
Following the widespread backlash against his actions, which included public declarations of support for Karefa-Johnson as well as vehement disapproval from West’s peers in the industry (Vogue also released a statement as well expressing their stand alongside Karefa-Johnson, who works for the outlet), West posted a picture of Karefa-Johnson again, claiming that the situation had been diffused. “I’m not letting people go to bed thinking I didn’t meet with Gabrielle at 5pm today for 2 hours,” he wrote. “Then we went to dinner at Ferdie.”