The 2025 Grammys red carpet had only officially been open for roughly 20 minutes, but Kanye West and his wife, Bianca Censori, created the inappropriate moment viewers will be discussing long after the ceremony has ended.
When the pair first stepped onto the carpet, Censori was wrapped in a high-necked fur coat (the jury is still out on real vs. faux) that she clutched together in front. With extra security measures immediately put in place and a request for photographers to step back six inches, per The Hollywood Reporter‘s red carpet reporting, Censori dropped her coat to reveal that she was wearing an exceedingly sheer minidress in an open, nude-toned mesh and seemingly no underwear underneath. The photogs already had fallen silent when the pair arrived, which made it all the easier to hear one woman photographer remark, “What a reveal.”
West already was drawing blowback for a messages he posted on X on Saturday, one of which depicted a gramophone (the symbol of the Grammy trophy) and text that simply said, “Thank you to the Grammies [sic] for nominating Carnival.” On Instagram, meanwhile, West appeared to unfollow everyone except for Taylor Swift, the latest in a disturbing history that started at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when the rapper interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech with a rant that Beyoncé should have been the true winner.
West is nominated at the 2025 Grammys for best rap song for “Carnival” alongside co-writer Ty Dolla Sign; together they perform as the hip-hop duo known as ¥$.
While West and Censori have made it a practice in recent years to create attention-getting moments at various events, this appearance at the 2025 Grammys feels highly inappropriate in light of the industry’s desire to place as much focus as possible on the victims of the L.A. wildfires and the fundraising efforts to aid those victims. Other questions also abound. Is Censori’s blatant exhibitionism on the red carpet even legal, given public-indecency laws?
California Penal Code Section 314 prohibits exposing one’s genitals or naked body in a public place or in any setting that others may be offended or annoyed. A first offense is a misdemeanor that can result in a fine of up to $1,000 and/or six months in a county jail. The mitigating factors that prosecutors would examine are whether the exposure act was intentional and lewd; whether it was designed to offend others; and if it occurred in a public place.
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department and other organizations, including the Grammys, and will update the story accordingly.
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