Chris Brown tears Kanye West to shreds over slavery comments: 'This man is a clown!'

Carly Mallenbaum | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Kanye West says 400 years of slavery 'sounds like a choice' Before the last one had a chance to simmer down, Kanye West caused another stir, calling slavery a “choice” in an interview Tuesday.

Kanye West, continuing his controversy tour of 2018, spoke Tuesday to TMZ Live about slavery, free thought and his love for President Trump.

On the first topic, he said slavery "sounds like a choice."

He added, "When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... like, you was there for 400 years and it's all of y'all?! It's like we're mentally in prison."

After that comment, TMZ's Van Lathan interjected.

“I think what you’re doing right now is actually the absence of thought," Lathan said. "And while you are making music and being an artist and living the life that you’ve earned by being a genius, the rest of us in society have to deal with these threats to our lives. We have to deal with the marginalization that has come from the 400 years of slavery that you said for our people was a choice."

West later took to Twitter to defend himself.

to make myself clear. Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will — KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 1, 2018

"Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will," he tweeted. "My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved."

He added: "They cut our tongues so we couldn't communicate to each other. I will not allow my tongue to be cut ... they can no longer stop our voice."

My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved — KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) May 1, 2018

West's original remarks did not sit will with singer Chris Brown, who tore the rapper to shreds in an lengthy, NSFW Instagram post Wednesday.

"THIS IS JUST ENTERTAINMENT TO YALL... THIS MAN IS A CLOWN!" he wrote in all caps. "WAKE THE HELL UP KANYE.... PLEASE. SLAVERY WAS A CHOICE???????? Whattttttt??????”

“PLEASE BLACK PEOPLE... DO NOT FOLLOW (West) ON HIS PATH TO DESTRUCTION! WHATEVER HELP U THINK I NEED.... GET IT FOR HIM ASAP,” he continued, seeming to reference his own controversial past of assault against his ex-girlfriend Rihanna.

Brown was featured on West's 2016 track Waves, which focused on love and relationships, but that didn't stop the singer from bashing West.

"OUR SONG JUST WENT PLATINUM BUT (expletive) THAT," he added.

Will.i.am said West's words were crushing on Good Morning Britain Wednesday.

"That broke my heart, because I thought about my grandma, who was born in 1920, and her connection with her mom who raised her, who was born in the (late) 1800s, and my grandmother's grandma, who was a slave," said Will.i.am, who was born William James Adams Jr. "When you're a slave, you're owned. You don't choose if you're owned. When you're a slave, you're deprived of education. That's not choice, that's by force."

"I understand the need to have free thought, but if your thoughts aren't researched, that is just going to hurt those that are still in conditions where it's not choice that when they go down the street there's a liquor store and fast food restaurants, and your education is not being funded the same way it is in Calabasas," he continued.

"That statement was one of the most ignorant statements that anybody that came from the hood could ever say about their ancestors, that slavery is a choice," Will.i.am added.

Twitter also had opinions about West's words.

Jimmy Kimmel called the entire TMZ appearance "wild."

What @kanyewest is doing and saying right now on @TMZLive is so wild, @HarveyLevinTMZ put his cup down. — Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) May 1, 2018

Feminist writer Roxane Gay tweeted, “I don’t have the energy for nonsense but Kanye … is a free moron who doesn’t read.”

I don’t have the energy for nonsense but Kanye saying slavery was a choice reiterates my previous statements about how dangerous his trite, shallow ramblings are. He is not a free thinker. He is a free moron who doesn’t read. Do not @ me. — roxane gay (@rgay) May 1, 2018

“What in the Andy Kaufman is going on here?” asked Questlove, invoking the late comedian with a reputation for being erratic.

What in the Andy Kaufman is going on here? https://t.co/uvpJ37opyR — T'Questlove (@questlove) May 1, 2018

“It all makes sense now,” actor Jon Cryer joked, in response to West’s slavery comments.

It all makes sense now. https://t.co/BfIDjKoFR2 — Jon Cryer (@MrJonCryer) May 1, 2018

Journalist Phili Mwaniki tweeted in support of Lathan: “Years from now,” people will ask, "Where were you when this dude shut Kanye up?”

Years from now, the question will be; where were you when this dude shut Kanye West up? pic.twitter.com/wTG83siGuz — Philip Mwaniki (@Mwanikih) May 1, 2018

Writer Oliver Willis joked his “congratulations” to new Fox News hire Kanye.

Congratulations to new Fox News hire Kanye — Oliver Willis (@owillis) May 1, 2018

Mat Johnson likened West to Samuel L Jackson’s character Stephen from Django Unchained, a twisted slave who sees himself as above other people of color.

Want to feel old? This is Kanye West now. pic.twitter.com/BWRBm1ld5p — Mat Johnson (@mat_johnson) May 1, 2018

Filmmaker Matthew Cherry thanked Lathan for stepping in.

Man @VanLathan thank you for saying what you said to Kanye. pic.twitter.com/IxYvA7FYVJ — Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) May 1, 2018

Contributing: Erin Jensen, Sara Moniuszko

More: Kanye West: I was 'drugged out' on opioids leading up to 2016 hospitalization