Who is Ye’s buddy, Justin Laboy? The source of Beyoncé’s ‘Demon Time’ reference, he’s an ex-basketball player and friends with the NBA’s Kevin Durant – he also popularised the #Respectfully hashtag

Jan 23 , 2025

Kanye West’s close pal Justin Laboy is a social media personality and the man behind ‘Demon Time’. Photo: @justinlaboy/Instagram

The host of YouTube’s #Respectfully The Justin Laboy Show, also a friend of Diddy’s son Justin, coined ‘Demon Time’ to raise money for exotic dancers during the Covid-19 pandemic

The jet-setting lifestyle of Kanye West is showing no signs of slowing down. Not long ago, the “Runaway” rapper was photographed on a trip to a 7-Eleven store in Ginza, Tokyo, with children Saint, Chicago and Psalm, while their mother, Kim Kardashian, fled her Los Angeles home to escape the fires. The outing came days after West’s wife, Bianca Censori, celebrated her 30th birthday.

Kanye West attends the Anonymous Club fashion show during Berlin Fashion Week last July. Photo: Getty Images

More recently, the couple were spotted at Tokyo’s Azabudai Hills, accompanied by online sensation Justin Laboy. Ye and The Download host have been cosying up for a while now, with the former even sitting down with Laboy for an interview for the podcast, during which he made bombshell claims, alleging that streamer Kai Cenat was an “industry plant” and calling rapper Chris Brown a “god”.

But who is Justin Laboy, who has curried such favour with Ye and is also close to the likes of NBA star Kevin Durant and Sean “Diddy” Combs’ son Justin?

What is Laboy’s background?

Justin Laboy is a New York native. Photo: @justinlaboy/Instagram

According to The Independent, Justin Laboy hails from Queens, New York, where he grew up with four older siblings. He described his family situation as “broken”, according to the outlet and hoped to break “generational curses”. Laboy attended ASA College in Brooklyn, New York, per Revolt TV.

He played basketball

Justin Laboy played basketball professionally. Photo: @justinlaboy/Instagram

During his time as a student at ASA College, Laboy had a successful stint in the school’s basketball team, according to Revolt TV. He eventually turned professional and played for Macedonia’s Pelister Bitola Basketball Club. After suffering two career-ending tears to his Achilles tendons, Laboy decided to hang up his jersey and started working as a nightlife promoter. “I wasn’t going to be the next Michael Jordan or LeBron James,” he said, per The Independent.