Kanye West’s Twitter Account Suspended After Posting Swastika

Kanye West’s Twitter Account Suspended After Posting Swastika
Rapper Kanye West attends the Givenchy Spring-Summer 2023 fashion show during the Paris Womenswear Fashion Week, in Paris, on Oct. 2, 2022. Julien de Rosa/AFP via Getty Images
Katabella Roberts
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Elon Musk confirmed on Friday that Kanye West’s Twitter account has been suspended shortly after the rapper posted a Swastika merged with a Star of David and shared private messages between the two.

Twitter’s chief executive was responding to a Twitter user who had asked the businessman to “fix Kanye please” after the rapper’s account was shut down.

“I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended,” Musk wrote.

West, whose legal name is Ye, had earlier posted a photo to Twitter of a swastika merged with a Star of David, the symbol of Judaism. He also shared a photo of a topless Musk on holiday with Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel alongside the caption: “Let’s always remember this as my final tweet.”

Musk, responding to the latter post said: “That is fine” before noting of the former: “This is not.”

“Just clarifying that his account is being suspended for incitement to violence, not an unflattering pic of me being hosed by Ari. Frankly, I found those pics to be helpful motivation to lose weight!” Musk tweeted in a follow-up post.
West’s account now states that it has been suspended by Twitter and links to a help center page where users can “learn more” about why and how Twitter suspends accounts that violate the platform’s rules.
Twitter logo and a photo of Elon Musk are displayed through a magnifier in this illustration taken on Oct. 27, 2022. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
Twitter logo and a photo of Elon Musk are displayed through a magnifier in this illustration taken on Oct. 27, 2022. Dado Ruvic/Reuters

“I Like Hitler, I See Good Things About Him’

West had only recently returned to Twitter after being locked out of his account in October for violating the company’s policies when he posted a tweet that was accused of being anti-Semitic.

He was among a string of previously banned accounts that were later welcomed back by Musk—who has vowed to make Twitter a platform that allows free speech—including that of former President Donald Trump.

Upon returning, designer West quickly posted “Shalom” alongside a smiling emoji. Shalom is a Hebrew word meaning “peace.”

On Thursday, West, wearing a full balaclava, appeared alongside controversial political commentator Nick Fuentes on Alex Jones’s Infowars show, where he heaped praise on Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

An uncomfortable-looking Jones explained that he believes Hitler was a “really bad guy” to which West responded: “I like Hitler, I see good things about him; you can’t say out loud that this person [Hitler] ever did anything good and I’m done with that ... every human being has something of value that they bought to the table, especially Hitler.”

West also claimed that there were a “lot of good Nazis who were just fighting for their country.”

After his Twitter account was suspended, West turned to Trump’s Truth Social platform where he shared what appeared to be text messages between himself and Musk.

“Sorry, but you have gone too far. This is not love,” Musk wrote to the rapper, who responded with: “Who made you the judge.”

Also on Thursday, social media platform, Parler, announced that West would no longer be going through with his planned purchase of the “free speech alternative” based on a “decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November.”

In a statement, the company said it will “continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community.”

West could not be reached for comment.

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