Instagram restricted Kanye West’s account this weekend over deleted content that violated the platform’s policies. West responded with a series of alleged antisemitic tweets detailing his frustrations.
The Grammy-Award-winning musician has had another highly publicized week in the media. He received backlash last Monday for wearing a ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt at a surprise fashion show. Conservative commentator Candace Owens and one other model were seen wearing similar shirts at the show. “White Lives Matter” is related to “All Lives Matter,” a phrase used as a response to “Black Lives Matter.” The wearing of the shirt has been seen as a stunt by West, acting as publicity for the show. Critics have compared the stunt to West wearing Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hat in 2020. Now his most recent social media posts are being called into question for being hateful toward Jewish people.
https://twitter.com/Rap/status/1577005514395115520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1577005514395115520%7Ctwgr%5E19546e643680301117a4676aa27a88bf311ecf70%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fembedly.forbes.com%2Fwidgets%2Fmedia.html%3Ftype%3Dtext2Fhtmlkey%3Dcfc0fb0733504c77aa4a6ac07caaffc7schema%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Frap%2Fstatus%2F1577005514395115520image%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Fi.embed.ly%2F1%2Fimage3Furl3Dhttps253A252F252Fabs.twimg.com252Ferrors252Flogo46x38.png26key3D8804248494c144f5b4765c41f66c6ed5
Questionable Social Media Posts
According to a Meta spokesperson in a statement, the restriction on the rapper’s account came as a result of the removal of content that violated its policies. Instagram did not clarify what specifically triggered the removal or what kind of restriction was given.
In response, West took to Twitter to air out his frustrations, with two of these tweets landing him in hot water. His first tweet back was an image of a black hat with the year 2024 on it, believed to be a hint at another presidential run. Elon Musk, who is in the process of taking over the social media network, celebrated the rapper’s return, tweeting “Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!” in a comment. The next tweet was a picture of him and Meta Platforms Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, the person West blames for his Instagram ban.
One tweet took aim at the antisemitic accusations he received, claiming that it is impossible for a Black man to be anti-jewish. The now-deleted tweet read:
I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death [sic] con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE. The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also. You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.
Twitter took down the tweet as it violated “Twitter rules.”
The People v. Mr. West
In the past few years, West has made some controversial statements about race and the Black man in America. He infamously told TMZ that he felt Slavery “sounded like a choice” in 2018. He has since walked back the statement. During his 2020 presidential run, he expressed beliefs that Harriet Tubman did not free any slaves but “just had the slaves go work for other white people.” He faced more criticism for wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while meeting with then-President Donald Trump at the White House. When talking with the Wall Street Journal, West called the backlash “classist” and felt pride in wearing the infamous hat.
One of my favorite of many things about what the Trump hat represents to me is that people can’t tell me what to do because I’m Black.
Despite what many think of him, West has remained adamant about his stance on his antics. He sees himself fighting against expectations put on him by society. He believes people expect him to automatically lean left on the political spectrum being a black man from Chicago.
It reminded me of how I felt as a Black guy before I was famous when I would walk in a restaurant and people would look at you like you were going to steal something. ‘This is your place, Ye, don’t talk about apparel. This is your place, Ye, you’re Black, so you’re a Democrat.’
West has cut many of his professional ties and is currently in talks with Adidas to end his Yeezy partnership with the company.
Written by Chiagozie Onyewuchi
Sources:
Variety: Instagram Restricts Kanye West’s Account Following Backlash Over Alleged Antisemitic Post, West Responds With Disturbing Tweets; by J. Kim Murphy
CNN: Kanye West’s Instagram account restricted, returns to Twitter; by Megan Thomas
Variety: Kanye West Wears ‘White Lives Matter’ Shirt at Yeezy Runway Show; by Thania Garcia
Forbes: Kanye West Wears ‘White Lives Matter’ Shirt At Yeezy Fashion Show; by Marisa Dellatto
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Super 45 | Música Independiente’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of JD Lasica’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
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