Celebrity

Kanye West Didn't Have 'Malicious Intent' During Fan Wheelchair Incident, Says Source

The rapper is under fire for asking a disabled fan to stand during a concert

Published on September 14, 2014 04:55 PM

Kanye West found himself in some hot water following his concert in Sydney, Australia, this weekend.

“I decided I can’t do this song, I can’t do the rest of the show until everybody stands up,” West announced from the stage.

“Unless you got a handicap pass and you get special parking and s–––,” he added.

The qualifier ended up being prescient. There were two audience members that West noticed didn’t stand up: One had a prosthetic limb, and the other was in a wheelchair, according to reports.

As security went into the crowd to check on the duo’s lack of participation, the crowd booed the pair before one of them waved a prosthetic limb in the air as proof.

Once assured that the two people were in fact physically unable to stand, West continued.

According to a source, the incident – which incited immediate online ire – is being blown out of proportion.

“There was no malicious intent to offend,” a source tells PEOPLE. “Anyone that has been to a Kanye concert knows that he asks for crowd participation.”

West had a more positive run-in with a wheelchair-bound fan earlier in the summer in Austin.

When the rapper noticed that a disabled young man in the second row was having difficulty seeing the stage, he asked his security guard to give the fan his mic after the show as a consolation.