After calls to “fix Kanye” and two months after his last suspension, Twitter has again suspended embattled rapper Ye from the platform for violating rules about inciting violence.
The development came late Thursday, apparently at the behest of new Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk, who just weeks ago restored the account of Donald Trump. The former president’s account had been permanently suspended by the tech company following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended,” Musk tweeted Thursday about Ye in response to a user.
The @kanyewest account appeared blank Friday morning, only bearing the explanation that “Twitter suspends accounts that violate the Twitter Rules.”
Prior to that, the Grammy-winning recording artist posted a series of erratic tweets — one of which appeared to show a symbol combining a swastika and a Jewish star — on Twitter. In his self-described “final tweet,” Ye also got a dig in about Musk and posted a photo of the Tesla and SpaceX founder being hosed down on a yacht by Endeavor Chief Executive Ari Emanuel, who previously called on companies to cut ties with Ye.
The missives followed weeks of antisemitic rhetoric from the rapper. Those came to a head this week after Ye aligned himself with far-right influencer and white supremacist Nick Fuentes. The two appeared together Thursday on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ “Infowars,” where Ye again voiced his admiration for former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
“Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler,” he said, eventually adding, “I like Hitler.”
The 45-year-old, whose many business partnerships have evaporated amid the brewing controversy, had been briefly suspended from Twitter and Instagram in October for offensive posts about Jewish people. Ye returned to the platforms about three weeks later and claimed he “lost 2 billion dollars in one day.”
In March, he was suspended from Instagram for writing inflammatory posts about late-night host Trevor Noah, who called out the rapper for harassing ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her then-boyfriend Pete Davidson. (Ye and Kardashian finalized their protracted divorce earlier this week.)
Although the rapper, who is attempting to mount a second White House bid, was in talks to buy right-leaning social network Parler, the company announced Thursday that the two parties “mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler” in mid-November.
President Biden entered the chat Friday, denouncing antisemitic , pro-Nazi sentiment on Twitter.
“I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure. And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides,” he tweeted. “Silence is complicity.”
