Kanye Does Not Like Crowd Reaction to 2024 Line

Kanye West made a surprise appearance on the stage at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York this week, and he didn't disappoint in terms of generating headlines. Among other things, he said he might temporarily change his name to make a point and he reiterated that he plans to run for president in 2024, reports Entertainment Tonight and TMZ.

• Name: "When people say it's crass to call yourself a billionaire, I say I might legally change my name to Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West for a year until y'all understand exactly what it is," he said. "It will be on the license plate." The context here was black economic empowerment. In fact, West said that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated because he wanted to talk about that very subject, adding, "The reason why I say these things out loud in this way is so I won't be killed."

• 2024: "When I run for president in 2024," West said, but then he paused because the audience laughed. "What y'all laughing at?" he said, before continuing with a reference to his Yeezy shoe brand. "When I run for president in 2024, we would have created so many jobs that I'm not going to run, I'm going to walk."

(More Kanye West stories.)