TMZ’s Van Lathan has been trending after he confronted Kanye West over his assertion that 400 years of slavery sounds like a choice.

On Wednesday, May 2, host Harvey Levin got the celebrity news outlet’s staff member to expound on what brought him to step up and speak out on what motivated him to take a stance.

“If the question is, is Kanye West pro-slavery, or is he blaming African Americans for slavery? I highly doubt it. But I think that context and restraint are very important when you’re trying to make a salient point. And I think that he missed out on the opportunity to do that because he was in a stream of consciousness rant. Still though, you know, our responsibility in the community and people who want to help out, we have to make sure that we call him in when… you know what I mean?” Lathan said during the recap.