Kanye West Found Yet Another Controversial World Leader to Hang Out With

James Franco

The actor taught film at New York University, in 2011, and California University, in 2012. Just like any professor, he received his share of reviews on RatemyProfessors.com. Though most students seemed to like Franco, they were honest about some of his faults as a professor, including how sleepy he seemed during lectures. “Really down to earth movie star who knows what he’s doing but isn’t meant to be a teacher. EASY A THO STRAIGHT 100,” one read. Another mentioned that Franco cried throughout the “duration of [their] meeting.”

By Michael Kirby Smith/The New York Times/Redux.

Kal Penn

During the spring semester of 2008, Penn was a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania for two courses titled “Images of Asian Americans in the Media” and “Contemporary American Teen Films.” With the exception of one review, Penn’s few RateMyProfessor.com comments are positive.

By Gary Gershoff/WireImage.

Angelina Jolie

The actress and director gave her first lecture at London School of Economics in March 2017. She will begin teaching a class for the masters program in the Centre for Women, Peace, and Security beginning this September. Jolie was selected as one of four visiting professors at the university, the program announced on its Web site last May.

By Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images.

Amal Clooney

Last spring, Clooney was a guest lecturer at Columbia Law, where she participated in a human-rights course. Clooney has since been fighting for the rights of Yazidi refugees and spoke late last year at the Texas Conference for Women about the power of overcoming genocide.

By Christian Lutz/A.P./Rex/Shutterstock.

Kanye West

In 2014, West taught a class in fashion at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College for his community service hours. West pled no contest to misdemeanor criminal battery and attempted grand theft connected to an altercation with the paparazzi outside Los Angeles International Airport in 2008.

By Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

Matthew McConaughey

In 2016, the University of Texas announced that it would offer a filmmaking class assistant-taught by U.T. alum McConaughey and director Gary Ross called “Advanced Producing: Script to Screen.” In this class, the two went “behind the scenes” of their film Free State of Jones. The only catch? McConaughey did most of his lecturing via video and was only required to be present at campus once as a professor, per Variety. Still, imagine if, instead of As, your papers read, “Alright, alright, alright.”

By Donald Miralle/Getty Images.

Oprah Winfrey

You get an A, and you get an A! In the fall of 2000, Winfrey co-taught a Dynamics of Leadership course at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University with her longtime partner, Stedman Graham. The university announced in January 2001 that Winfrey would not teach the course the following school year, per The Daily Northwestern.

By Tim Boyle/Getty Images.

John Cleese

Cleese, who is a graduate of Cambridge University, went to another ivory tower later in his career. Cleese spent a total of 11 years as a professor at Cornell, first as a Andrew D. White professor-at-large, and then as provost’s visiting professor. The Cornell Chronicle reported in 2006 that “Cleese became known on campus for presenting eclectic rounds of public talks on topics ranging from human development and animal welfare to the works of W. Somerset Maugham.”

By Johnny Louis/FilmMagic.

Kevin Spacey

Spacey took a trip across the pond for the 2008–2009 school year to teach theater at Oxford University. “I’ll try very hard to give them some practical advice about agents and auditions and how to just deal with the day-to-day business of trying to start a career,” he said in an interview with The Telegraph. He added with particular pride: “My friends call me Professor Spacey.“

By Michael Tran/FilmMagic.

Spike Lee

Lee, a New York University grad himself, teaches film in the graduate program at the N.Y.U.’s Tisch School of the Arts. His professor page, which says he teaches a third-year master series on directing strategies, is filled with his own lengthy film credits.

By Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage.

Alec Baldwin

In the summer of 2002, Baldwin taught a master’s class in theater at Southampton College in the summer that year. “Like our other Distinguished Professors, Alec Baldwin is a Renaissance person. His talent stretches across many mediums, from the Broadway stage to the big screen to literary festivals, public policy, activism, and motion picture production,” said a representative for the college upon Baldwin’s hire at the Long Island school.

By Ron Galella/WireImage.

Questlove

The Roots drummer was hired at N.Y.U. in 2012. His courses have included Classic Albums and a class on Prince called the Purple One. A music major’s classic-rock dream.

By Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images.

Tyra Banks

In 2016, Banks announced that she would be taking her professional knowledge to Stanford University as a professor. Starting this May, Professor Banks will be a guest lecturer in the M.B.A. program. Does smizing earn extra credits in business school?

By Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images.

Wyclef Jean

In the 2010–2011 school year, the rapper and Haitian activist joined Brown University as a visiting professor in the Africana Studies program. “I am a lifelong student and appreciate this unique opportunity to contemplate all the potential and possibilities, as well as the contributions of my homeland, and Haitians in the diaspora, to the world’s creative culture,” he said in a story on the university’s Web site at the time of his hiring.

By Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC/Getty Images.

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