Kanye West No Longer Buying Social Media Platform Parler

Kanye West No Longer Buying Social Media Platform Parler
The Parler logo. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)
Tom Ozimek
12/2/2022
Updated:
12/30/2023
0:00

Musician Kanye West, who has taken fire for a string of controversial remarks and has once again had his Twitter account suspended, is no longer buying the social media app Parler, the company said.

Parler announced on Dec. 1 that it had made a mutual decision with West, who has officially changed his name to “Ye,” to terminate the rapper’s planned acquisition of the social media platform.

“In response to numerous media inquiries, Parlement Technologies would like to confirm that the company has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler,” Parler said in a post on Twitter. “This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November.”

The company later added it’s looking for opportunities to expand.

“Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community,” it stated in a follow-up message.
Earlier, West and Parler CEO George Farmer both hailed the planned acquisition in an Oct. 17 press release, which described the deal-in-principle as helping “assure Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome.”

At the time, West said in a statement that “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves.”

“Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again,” Farmer said at the time.

West could not be reached for comment on the development.

George Farmer, CEO of Parler, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, on August 6, 2022. (Bobby Sanchez for The Epoch Times)
George Farmer, CEO of Parler, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, on August 6, 2022. (Bobby Sanchez for The Epoch Times)

Controversial Remarks About Hitler and Nazis

On the same day that Parler announced its tentative deal with West had fallen through, West made a string of controversial statements in an appearance on Alex Jones’s InfoWars program.

Jones said during the show that West doesn’t deserve to be called a “Nazi” nor does he deserve to be “demonized” after a recent run of remarks he made that have been widely labeled as anti-Semitic.

West replied by saying that he sees “good things about Hitler, also,” and that “we gotta stop dissing the Nazis all the time.”

Hitler, who led Germany during the Second World War, was the architect of the Holocaust, a scheme that saw the killing of around six million Jews.

Later, West took to his recently reinstated Twitter account and posted a Swastika merged with a Star of David, the symbol of Judaism.

West also shared a photo of a topless Elon 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 West’s former post of the Star of David merged with a Swastika: “This is not.”

The new Twitter owner, who only recently reinstated West’s Twitter account along with a string of other previously suspended accounts, then confirmed that West’s account was once again being hit with a suspension.

“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 said in a follow-up post.
West’s account now states that it has been suspended by Twitter and links to a help center page that explains why and how Twitter freezes accounts that violate the platform’s rules.
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
twitter
Related Topics