Twitter locks Kanye West's account over anti-Semitic tweet

Kanye West
(Image credit: Edward Berthelot/GC Images)

Twitter has restricted Kanye West's account after the rapper shocked followers with an anti-Semitic post.

In a tweet over the weekend, West, who is legally known as Ye, threatened to go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE," claiming he "can't be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew."

The tweet is no longer online, and a Twitter spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeed News that West's account "has been locked due to a violation of Twitter's policies."

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West's Instagram account was previously restricted after another anti-Semitic post, in which he suggested rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs was being controlled by Jewish people.

This led West to return to Twitter, first doing so with a post that appeared to tease a 2024 presidential campaign. He then shared a photo of himself with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, asking, "How you gone kick me off instagram."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is in the process of acquiring Twitter, celebrated West's return to the platform prior to his anti-Semitic post, writing to him, "Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!"

The Anti-Defamation League condemned West for his "dangerous" anti-Semitic comments. He was already facing criticism for recently wearing a shirt that said "White Lives Matter" at a fashion show, which he defended to Fox News host Tucker Carlson by saying, "I do certain things from a feeling. I just channel the energy. It just feels right. It's using a gut instinct, a connection with God, and just brilliance."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.