Ye (formerly Kanye West) appears to have deactivated his X account following an antisemitic tirade that left many former fans stunned. The racism, misogyny, and other bigotry in the rapper’s posts led X to slap the account and its content with an “NSFW” warning. Soon after, Ye deactivated the account, but not before thanking Elon Musk for “allowing [him] to vent.” Taking the account down shouldn’t be seen as a retraction of his statements, however, much less an apology. Instead, it seems Ye is cashing in on his hateful rhetoric, continuing to sell a swastika t-shirt on the Yeezy website. Now many on social media are fed up with the rapper’s bigotry and its effect on his legacy.
Ye Account Deactivation and Yeezy Swastika Shirts
Kanye’s bigoted comments may have widened the rift between himself and Kim Kardashian, but they haven’t stopped him from cashing in on the controversy. His Yeezy store remains open, although it appears there’s only one item for sale. It’s a plain white t-shirt bearing a black swastika and an “HH” label (presumably a “Heil Hitler” reference). The swastika had a long and complicated cultural history before the Nazis appropriated and altered the design for propaganda purposes. That said, there’s no mistaking this version of the design or its implications in the context of his X posts.
An X post by @PicturesFoIder captured Ye’s parting words in a screenshot taken before the deactivation of the account. One commenter seemed disturbed by the rapper’s descent into bigotry and fascism, saying,
Kanye West will be remembered as one of the greatest artists who destroyed his own legacy
Though some Ye fans are still coming to the rapper’s defense, it doesn’t seem there’s much left to defend. Regardless of how one feels about separating the art from the artist, the artist has made his feelings clear. That includes his comfort with capitalizing on one of history’s most explicit symbols of ignorance, violent oppression, and discrimination. There aren’t enough Lil Wayne features in the world to come back from that.
