Ye, also referred to as Kanye West, is one of the most infamous celebrities of our time.
Popular in the music industry since the late 90s, Kanye has become widely popularized through his rap career with songs such as, “Gold Digger” and “Famous”. He has always been controversial, from his stunt of interrupting Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs, to his recent antisemitic tweets and wearing a White Lives Matter t-shirt at Paris Fashion Week.
Trent, J. F. (2022, October 3). Jemele Hill says "White lives matter" is "dangerously dumb message" after Kanye West wears shirt with slogan alongside Candace Owens. Bounding Into Sports. https://www.boundingintosports.com/2022/10/jemele-hill-says-white-lives-matter-is-dangerously-dumb-message-after-kanye-west-wears-shirt-with-slogan-alongside-candace-owens/
During his fashion show in Paris in October of 2022, Ye and American conservative Candace Owens, shared a photo to Twitter of while wearing White Lives Matter t-shirts. The photo received instant backlash and has been widely discussed since. According to reports, “White Lives Matter” was adopted and promoted by white nationalist organizations and as a "racist reaction to the Black Lives Matter campaign."
Additionally, Kanye recently made anti-semitic remarks on social media, and was immediately blocked from media platforms, by both Instagram and Twitter. Although the messages were quickly removed, they left quite an impression, with brands such as Balenciaga and Adidas severing ties with him and his company.
Being a well-known artist, audiences saw Kanye’s remarks, using it to justify their disgusting actions as a group of protestors hung a sign off the 405 freeway pass saying, “Kanye is right about the Jews,” while saluting Hitler.
Angeles, C. B. S. L. (2022, October 24).Kanye West's Anti-Semitic tweet sparks more hate speech in L.A.'s West Side. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/video/kanye-wests-anti-semitic-tweet-sparks-more-hate-speech-in-l-a-s-west-side/
The amount of anti-Semitism in Los Angeles has been on a rise, and this is partly due to Ye posting these horrendous remarks. This sudden spiral of hate has people on the internet wondering when enough will be enough.
Kanye has faced little to no repercussions to his business besides having Balenciaga cut ties with him. Ye came out and claimed to be off his medication for his bipolar disorder, using it as an excuse for his behavior. Earlier this year he tweeted that he was off his medication and proceeded to post that the world is racist, sexist, and homophobic and that everyone should be conscious of each other and we shouldn’t write each other off so easily. This is ironic since he is contributing to the problems he raves about.
So this brings up the question: is Kanye suffering from the side effects of bipolar disorder, or is he simply a vile person?
Sources:
O'Kane, C. (2022, October 26). Kanye West faces backlash for wearing shirt with "White lives matter" slogan. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kanye-west-white-lives-matter-shirt-candace-owens-fashion-show-backlash/
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