Kanye West made a surprise appearance at Lil Durk’s federal trial Thursday, showing up at a downtown Los Angeles courthouse as the rapper’s high-profile case continues.
Video later surfaced on social media showing Kanye arriving at the courthouse. According to information supplied by TMZ, Ye was inside the courtroom, seated in the second row and dressed entirely in black, including leather pants.
He initially entered wearing black sunglasses before taking them off after sitting down.
Kanye’s unexpected appearance puts another major name from hip-hop inside a federal courtroom where Durk’s murder-for-hire case is being heard.
The visit comes just days after Machine Gun Kelly also attended the proceedings. MGK reportedly watched Monday’s proceedings from an overflow room.
Kanye and Durk have an established musical connection, with Durk appearing on several Kanye projects, including Donda, VULTURES 1 and VULTURES 2.
Durk has remained in federal custody since his October 2024 arrest in connection with an alleged murder-for-hire plot.
Kanye West Shows Up At Lil Durk Trial To Showing Support and Love For Smurk
— صريح باريس (@OmarPSG__) August 27, 2026
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Federal prosecutors allege that Durk sought retaliation following the 2020 killing of his friend and fellow rapper King Von outside an Atlanta hookah lounge. Prosecutors further allege that members of Durk’s crew later targeted rapper Quando Rondo in California in 2022, an incident in which Rondo survived but his cousin, Lul Pab, was killed.
Durk has denied wrongdoing and remains in federal custody as the case proceeds.
Kanye is no stranger to turning up at major federal proceedings involving fellow hip-hop figures. In June 2025, he attended Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial in New York City, where he was photographed arriving at court in an all-white outfit.
This time, however, the setting was Los Angeles—and the unexpected courtroom appearance was for an artist with whom Kanye has shared multiple musical collaborations.
For Durk’s supporters, the trial remains the focus. But Kanye’s arrival ensured that Thursday’s courtroom proceedings came with an unmistakable hip-hop celebrity presence.
