Despite years of inflammatory statements and bizarre antics, Ye, the rap superstar formerly known as Kanye West, now finds himself in a maelstrom of his own making after declaring himself a Nazi and doubling down on antisemitism. He recently unleashed a flurry of bigoted statements on X and began selling T-shirts emblazoned with swastikas. 

In response, Ye was dropped by his talent agency, and his website was taken offline. That same day, he was sued by a former employee for an alleged "calculated campaign" to "psychologically torment Jewish people around him," said Rolling Stone. While Ye has weathered contentious moments before, these latest scandals have raised the prospect that his hateful and outlandish behavior may finally take a lasting toll. 

What did the commentators say?
"Here we go again," said Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt in a statement condemning Ye. "We know this game all too well." 

As a celebrity, Ye is "still firmly raised on a platform of society's making," said Juno Kelly at Culted, although his most recent antisemitic rant "may have been the final straw." While he will "undoubtedly maintain impunity" among diehard fans, his "slow and nonlinear" descent may mean the A-lister is "destined to forever haunt the margins, scrambling for relevance through hate speech and problematic stunts."

For the rapper's inner circle, however, Ye's "bizarre and sometimes alarming antics come as no surprise," said Page Six. "Neither does his continuing popularity." Despite getting dropped by multiple partner brands and losing his management after his 2022 antisemitic outbursts, Ye still has "definitively not been canceled by fans." 

What next?
Ye's reputation has "once again taken a hit," said Rolling Stone. But his "latest antics" suggest "something larger" at play. Mental health circumstances aside, Ye remains "deftly perceptive of the zeitgeist" — one in which popular culture has been "drifting toward the far right." 

Ye is unrepentant over his latest controversies, in "stark contrast to an apology he made in 2023," said The New York Times. As the rapper said in his latest social media spree: "I'm never apologizing for my Jewish comments." He's set to release his next album in the summer, The Guardian said. His last two albums, released after his previous antisemitism scandal, "reached No. 1 and No. 2 in the U.S. chart, respectively."

A small prototype jet is being heralded as a possible successor to the Concorde more than two decades after the iconic aircraft disappeared from our skies. Nicknamed the Baby Boom, the prototype broke the sound barrier during a test flight that came "years later than expected," said The Economist. While it "lasted just 12 minutes," the flight could signal the return of supersonic travel, halving some commercial journey times.  

What happened to the Concorde? 
The era of supersonic commercial flying "came to an abrupt end" in 2003 with the retirement of the Concorde, said the Financial Times. The revolutionary aircraft's high fuel consumption made it "extremely expensive" to operate, and its "loud noise" limited the Concorde to transatlantic routes. The entire fleet was grounded following a fatal crash in July 2000, and the 9/11 attacks the following year resulted in a wider slump that was the "final straw." 

How fast is the new prototype? 
The Baby Boom broke the sound barrier for the first time during a test flight over the Mojave Desert in California late last month. The small jet, officially called XB-1, reached an altitude of 35,000 feet before accelerating to Mach 1.1 (844 mph) — "10% faster than the speed of sound," said Sky News. Boom Supersonic, the Colorado company that made the jet, hailed its test flights as a major milestone toward the return of supersonic air travel.   

When might it carry passengers? 
At 63 feet long, the XB-1 is a third of the size of the Overture, the supersonic commercial airliner that the company hopes to make. The Overture is intended to seat between 64 and 80 passengers and travel at speeds of up to Mach 1.7. The firm already has 130 preorders for the jet, from industry giants including American Airlines, United Airlines and Japan Airlines, for use on more than 600 routes worldwide.  

It would be built using new materials such as carbon fiber and would be more fuel-efficient than the Concorde, according to its makers. The engines would also be able to use sustainable aviation fuel. Boom Supersonic hopes to begin carrying passengers on the Overture as early as 2029 and expects to charge around $5,000 for a seat.