Nick Cannon claims his row with Kanye West was "pageantry" and he was happy to play along.
The two stars clashed earlier this month after the 41-year-old star called out his friend for talking about his wife Kim Kardashian in a recent interview, and the 37-year-old rapper responded in kind.
Insisting that it was part of Kanye’s usual "Yeezy promotion", he told Real 92.3’s Big Boy’s Neighborhood: "I was like, I’m gonna play the game he’s playing… ‘Ye at his best… I was like, ‘Hey, I’m happy to be a part of the circus. Let’s get to it.’
"And obviously again, to the core, I consider this dude a friend… I stood up for him when it was the ‘slavery is a choice’ [incident]; I’ve always been like, ‘Yo, that’s not what the man was trying to say.’
"And I even said that to him, I was like, ‘Yo, I’m always gonna ride for you, even when you’re wrong, ’cause that’s what cats who ride with each other do… But I think a lot of it was pageantry, at the end of the day."
Nick – who urged Kanye not to tell him what he can and can’t say amid the apparent feud – suggested the pair have already patched things up.
He added: "We didn’t chop it up about the issue. It was more about, like, ‘Man, it’s been a minute,’ and kind of getting back to it. That’s why I was like, ‘Alright that probably was more for the public.
"And he said what he had to say, and I actually respect what he had to say, other than the fact that, you know, demanding me what I can and cannot say."
The row comes after Kanye criticised him for a Complex interview where he suggested it wasn’t "far off of a concept" that Drake and Kim had slept together in the past.
In an Instagram post, he said: "First of all, I want to address Nick Cannon. I understand that you used to date my wife, but you know, you get into an interview, don’t mention my wife.
"If someone brings up my wife you say ‘Ye, I respect that man. I’m not speaking on that.’ Don’t be making no suggestions like somebody f**k my wife."
Nick Cannon says Kanye West row was ‘pageantry’
