'Where is the line between the right to speech and the right to reach?'

Fay M. Johnson at The New York Times

"I've spent years working at some of the world's largest social media platforms," says Fay M. Johnson, a former trust and safety product executive at Meta and Twitter. "I've seen how the right kind of moderation can improve conversations, and how the wrong kind — or none at all," can "spread hate and spill into real-world violence." While "free speech is essential for a healthy democracy," social media platforms must make thoughtful decisions "about what speech to broadcast and how widely."

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'It largely comes down to societal expectations of how much men should do at home'

Heather Long at The Washington Post

New research from Nobel Prize-winning economist Claudia Goldin "looks at the global fertility decline through the lens of macro economics" and speaks to the "anxieties shared by many women of my generation," says Heather Long. The findings suggest that "in places where men do more around the house, fertility rates are higher" and in places "where they do less, rates are lower." This "won't change unless the guy's expectations about what he's 'supposed to do' changes," Goldin tells Long.

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'Americans have allowed the so-called government to trample our God-given right to eat food that might kill us'

Rex Huppke at USA Today

Jim Jones, head of the FDA's food division, has "stepped down" to "protest" the "mass layoffs" happening under President Donald Trump's administration, says Rex Huppke. These layoffs "included people who review the safety of food ingredients." Now that RFK Jr. is "in charge of America's health," Huppke adds, "true lovers of liberty like myself will be free to eat whatever we want, happy in the knowledge it hasn't been 'inspected' by any 'health expert' to make sure it's 'safe.'"

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'Nostalgia for terrible things may sound absurd, but many people experience it'

Olga Khazan at The Atlantic

It is not unusual to "feel nostalgic for times that were difficult, unpleasant, or downright bad," says Olga Khazan. "Some people miss the early, eerie first few months of the pandemic, when time seemed to have stopped." The reason for this phenomenon, according to researchers: "Humans look to our past selves to make sense of our present. Reflecting on the challenging times we've endured provides significance and edification to a life that can otherwise seem pointlessly difficult."

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To say that Ye, the rap superstar and fashion mogul formerly known as Kanye West, is no stranger to controversy is like saying that the pole in a New York City subway car is no stranger to germs. Nevertheless, despite years of inflammatory statements and bizarre antics, Ye now finds himself in a maelstrom of his own making after declaring himself a "Nazi" and doubling down on his previously disavowed antisemitism. In the past few weeks, Ye unleashed a flurry of bigoted statements on X, followed by a baffling Super Bowl commercial directing viewers to his Yeezy website where only a single item was for sale: a t-shirt emblazoned with a swastika.

The backlash was swift. Ye was dropped by talent agency 33 & West "due to his harmful and hateful remarks," agent Daniel McCarthy said on Instagram. Shortly thereafter, Ye's website was taken offline by retail platform Shopify for failing to "engage in authentic commerce practices," the company said in a statement. That same day, an unnamed former employee sued Ye, alleging he had "carried out a calculated campaign to threaten and psychologically torment Jewish people around him." Simultaneously, Ye's "one-time chief of staff" quit "shortly after" the rapper defended fellow embattled mogul Sean "P.Diddy" Combs, who has been accused of abuse, said Rolling Stone. Ye and wife Bianca Censori have each "reached out to divorce attorneys" in the past week as well, TMZ said. While Ye has weathered similarly contentious moments before, these latest scandals have raised the prospect that his hateful and outlandish behavior may finally take a lasting toll on the once unstoppable-seeming superstar.

What did the commentators say?

"Here we go again," said Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt in a statement condemning Ye. The ADL had previously tracked "30 antisemitic incidents nationwide," which were "tied to" Ye's 2022 antisemitic outburst, Greenblatt said. "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 non-linear" descent may mean the A-lister is "destined to forever haunt the margins, scrambling for relevance through hate speech and problematic stunts."

Perhaps the most acute sign of Ye's decline in stature is the apparent recent cancellation of his planned appearance on megapopular streamer Kai Cenat's platform. Addressing the "elephant in the room," Cenat late last week repeatedly used the gamer term "GGs" to imply the planned collaboration was over. "I seen the tweets. I don't know what’s going on, bro," he said.

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 as he faces backlash for his posting spree," said Rolling Stone, but his "latest antics" suggest "something larger" at play. Mental health circumstances aside, Ye remains "remains deftly perceptive of the zeitgeist" — and popular culture has been "drifting towards the far right." For as long as Ye "continues making music," said Vulture, "he'll be able to find willing collaborators in the industry." Those collaborators, however, "can't say they didn't know what they were getting into."

The rapper has made sure people know he remains unrepentant over his latest controversies, in "stark contrast to an apology he made in 2023," said The New York Times. As Ye said in his latest social media spree: "I'm never apologizing for my Jewish comments." He is 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."

Kanye West and his wife Bianca Censori's appearance on the Grammys' red carpet was unexpected by all accounts. They had gatecrashed, said The Times' Caitlin Moran. His former glittering music career is not so glittering now, hence the no-invite status. But it was his wife, an architect and former model from Australia, that everyone was looking at.

Lowering a long, fur coat and turning to face the photographers, Censori revealed she was naked except for a "fully transparent mini dress, and no underwear," said The Guardian's Moira Donegan. She appeared completely nude.

'Nowhere to hide'

But this isn't about how much of her body a young woman revealed, said Moran. After all, the Grammys is often "a very titty, bummy event". The concern is that we can't be sure if Censori is really ok with it.

Since marrying West in 2023, she has rarely been seen without him, noted Donegan. She has shown form for fewer rather than more clothes, too. And the effect is "heightened by the proximity" of West, who is often clad in "too much clothing beside Censori's too little".

At the Grammys, Censori had "nowhere to hide" though. The practically non-existent dress gave her "no comfort or shelter". "'Make a scene,' West seems to be saying to her", said Moran. But the scene she makes is a depressing one and one, according to Page Six, that had them escorted from the building soon after.

'Sometimes things are what they look like'

At first glance, this is a woman "apparently brimming with body confidence", said Vogue's Raven Smith, but "there are concerns about this particular woman's silence: we've heard very little from Bianca during her Kanye tenure".

Indeed, said Donegan. "The exposure of Censori's body is contrasted with the enigma of her mind." Let's not jump to conclusions, though, said Smith. A woman can make "a zillion choices we wouldn't personally make ourselves and still not have that mean she's being coerced".

It would certainly play more easily on our mind to imagine Censori and West "partaking, together, in a critique of gender and celebrity", said Donegan. Seeing her as an artist allows us to view Censori as "something more hopeful and complicated than a victim of brutality", though she cautions, "sometimes things are what they look like".

A zoo in the US is offering the romantics of the world the chance to have a Madagascar hissing cockroach named after their Valentine. "You don't always have the right words, but you can still give them goosebumps, said the Bronx Zoo. "Name a Roach for your Valentine, because roaches are forever." Meanwhile, noted UPI, The San Antonio Zoo is offering a candle "bearing the scent of hippo poop" as a "potential Valentine's Gift for that special someone".

Porn boss offers 'self pleasure' breaks

An adult film company boss has made masturbation breaks a "permanent policy" for her 40 plus staff. The boss of Erika Lust Films said she is giving workers "an extra 30-minutes off every day to use for their self-pleasure routine", with a private room in the office known as "the masturbation station" to provide them with a "safe, comfortable space" for their personal break. "Not sure why people would need 30 minutes, but there you go," said Lad Bible.

Ye goes for Jaws look

Kanye West has fitted $850,000 titanium teeth implants in a new look he compared to Jaws, the James Bond villain. The hip hop star, also known as Ye, posted a photo to his Instagram account with his mouth wide open to show off his new metallic dentures. The Washington Post said the "technical term" for the fittings are "fixed prosthodontics". It added that this is "another massive stunt from the controversial producer and recording artist who is nearing the release of another album".

There have been more than two dozen antisemitic incidents in recent months, including multiple assaults, apparently inspired by Ye's rhetoric, according to a new report.

The Anti-Defamation League says it has "documented at least 30 antisemitic incidents that directly reference Ye," the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, since October 2022, the month he threatened to go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE."

The report lays out all of the examples, which include "vandalism, banner drops, targeted harassment, and campus propaganda distributions." There were multiple instances of phrases like "Kanye was right about the Jews" being written in public places alongside swastikas, as well as Jewish people allegedly being harassed by individuals who expressed support for Ye. In one case, a man allegedly called a Jewish-owned restaurant and asked for "the Kanye special" before saying, "Death to all the Jews."

In another case, 32-year-old Perin Jacobchuk allegedly physically assaulted a Jewish man in New York, shouting "F--k you, Jew" and "Kanye 2024!" A Jewish man was also allegedly "physically and verbally assaulted" in a grocery store by a group of people in Maryland who said, "Do it for Kanye!" The Anti-Defamation League additionally says that Ye's antisemitic statements have been embraced by extremist groups, and references to the rapper "have become mainstream shorthand for the hatred of — or a desire to commit violence against — Jewish people."

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement that Ye's antisemitic remarks "doubtlessly are having an impact and inspiring people to commit real-world acts of hate." The group previously condemned Ye for his "dangerous" social media posts, but he repeatedly doubled down on them before eventually professing his admiration of Adolf Hitler.

Adidas isn't mincing words about its finances in a post-Ye world.

The company has warned it could lose over $1 billion in revenue this year as a result of terminating its partnership with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, assuming it can't sell its existing Yeezy inventory, CNN reports.

Adidas had been in business with the rapper for nine years and launched the Yeezy clothing and shoe line with him, but the company officially dropped Ye last October over his series of antisemitic remarks.

In a new statement, Adidas said it's continuing to "review future options for the utilization" of its remaining Yeezy inventory. But the company's financial guidance for 2023 "accounts for the significant adverse impact from not selling" the Yeezy stock, and Adidas warned that not being able to sell this inventory would "lower revenues by around" $1.3 billion in 2023.

"Should the company irrevocably decide not to repurpose any of the existing Yeezy product going forward, this would result in the write-off of the existing Yeezy inventory" and lower the company's operating profit by an additional $534 million this year, Adidas also noted. "The numbers speak for themselves," CEO Bjørn Gulden warned. "We are currently not performing the way we should."

Adidas previously said it would continue to sell Ye's shoe designs without the Yeezy branding. The company's decision to end its partnership with the rapper over his "unacceptable, hateful and dangerous" remarks came after he warned he would go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE," but before he openly praised Adolf Hitler.

Ye may not be welcome down under thanks to his antisemitic remarks.

Australian Education Minister Jason Clare has told Nine Network television that Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, could be denied a visa if he attempts to visit the country due to his antisemitic comments, according to The Associated Press.

Clare reportedly noted that the Australian government has denied visas to people who harbor antisemitic views in the past and said that if Ye "does apply, he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions" as them.

This could be an issue for Ye because his current partner, Bianca Censori, is from Australia, and recent reports claimed he planned to travel to Melbourne to visit her family. These reports led Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, to call for him to be denied entry.

"Australia should not put out the welcome mat and provide a platform to a hatemonger who spews threats against the Jewish community and peddles conspiracy myths about Jewish power, greed and control," Abramovich said, per the Daily Mail.

Peter Wertheim, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive officer, also told Sky News that he met with Australian officials to argue for denying Ye entry, making "the case that this particular individual does not meet the character test and that it would be in the national interest not to grant him a visa."

Ye made a series of shocking antisemitic statements in the fall, culminating in him professing his admiration of Adolf Hitler, that led multiple businesses to cut ties with him. The rapper recently had a wedding ceremony with Censori, but they reportedly did not obtain a marriage certificate.

Do Ye take this woman?

Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, recently had "some sort of wedding ceremony," TMZ reports. The secret ceremony was held with Bianca Censori, a woman who has reportedly served as an architectural designer at Yeezy for years. Ye was recently spotted dining with her.

TMZ's sources said the two do not appear to have made their marriage legal by obtaining a certificate, but despite this, the rapper has been seen wearing a wedding ring. He released a song named after Censori, "Censori Overload," in December.

Ye was married to Kim Kardashian, with whom he shares four children, from 2014 until she filed for divorce in February 2021. After a drawn-out legal battle, during which Ye went through multiple lawyers, the divorce was finalized in November 2022. Ye has repeatedly criticized Kardashian over issues related to custody of their children, and they reportedly agreed to joint custody in a divorce settlement.

Ye has made headlines in recent months for his string of shocking antisemitic comments, which included the rapper repeatedly professing his admiration for Adolf Hitler on Alex Jones' show. Since then, he has been maintaining a low profile. In December, The Sun reported the rapper's former business manager has been trying to track him down to serve him with a lawsuit but has been unable to do so, partially due to "difficulty confirming" his "best current address."

On Thursday, TMZ reported Ye was spotted dining with Censori at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, and the report suggested this may be where he is now living.

A former business manager for Ye has reportedly been trying and failing to locate him so the rapper can be served with a $4.5 million contract lawsuit.

Thomas St. John, a former business manager for the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, filed a $4.5 million lawsuit against him this year over alleged unpaid fees. But The Sun now reports St. John has been unable to locate Ye to serve him and is requesting an extension so he can do so.

"As a general matter, we have had difficulty confirming the best current address of Kanye West," a court filing reportedly said, noting that "we have attempted to service him by mail" at "three separate addresses." A package delivered to one address was reportedly returned to the sender.

The filing notes St. John's team has "not yet made attempts to serve him personally" due to being "unable to ascertain his current residential address."

According to TMZ, Ye has been living a "nomadic life for months, traveling here and there and not really having a home base," though he has been spotted in Los Angeles this month. The lawsuit from St. John, which also alleged Ye screamed at him and became "heated and aggressive" during a January 2022 meeting, was filed as the rapper faced widespread backlash for his series of antisemitic comments.

The filing also says St. John hasn't been able to contact Ye's lawyers because he seemingly does not currently have an attorney, The Sun reports. In October, reports said Ye was working with Camille Vasquez, the lawyer who represented Johnny Depp in his lawsuit against Amber Heard. But their working relationship reportedly ended days later when Ye refused to retract his antisemitic remarks.

Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist working on disgraced rapper Kanye West’s 2024 presidential campaign, was filmed getting into a food fight with fellow customers at a Hollywood burger restaurant.

Fuentes was seen throwing a drink over fellow diners on Saturday, according to video shared on social media. The food fight started when a couple reportedly threw ketchup at Fuentes, “splashing him with the condiment”, the celebrity gossip website TMZ reported. And “that’s when Nick lost it, tossing his drink at them”.

Fuentes, a Holocaust denier, made headlines for more substantial reasons recently when he attended a dinner with West and Donald Trump at the former US president’s Florida mansion Mar-a-Lago.

Before the meeting, “most Americans had never heard of Nick Fuentes”, said Yahoo! News. Now, “the 24-year-old’s name and laundry list of bigoted beliefs have been the subject of countless mainstream news articles, cable news segments and late-night talk show monologues”.

Who is Nick Fuentes?

Born in August 1998, Fuentes grew up in La Grange Park, Illinois, and went to Lyons Township High School, where he was president of the student council.

While studying at Boston University he released a video setting out his case for voting for Donald Trump in the upcoming 2016 presidential elections.

The video went viral, and the comment sections soon “spiralled out of control”, said Vice. There were threats to “beat him up”, fellow student Alec Dakin told the news site, but there was also a group of “4chan-type people” who rallied to his defence with threats of their own, Dakin said.

In 2017 Fuentes claimed he received more death threats for attending the white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Six months later, at the age of just 18, he had launched his own online show in which, among other things, he has railed against the “barbaric ideology” of Islam and called for the “globalists” at CNN to be “hanged”, Vice said.

Since then his star has risen further in alt-right circles. In 2020, Fuentes founded the America First Political Action Conference “as a far-right alternative to the Conservative Political Action Coalition in an effort to distance himself from mainstream GOP [Republican Party]”, said Forbes. The event has attracted far-right members of the US Congress, including the controversial Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, both of whom have spoken at the conference.

Fuentes has maintained his support for Trump. In November 2020 he directed his followers, who are called Groypers, to “storm every state capitol” until “President Trump is inaugurated for four more years”. He himself led a group of followers to the US Capitol during the 6 January insurrection, which he later declared to be “awesome”.

Trump is not the only potential 2024 presidential candidate that Fuentes has supported, however. Since Kanye West, the 45-year-old rapper now known as Ye, announced his own bid for the White House in late November, Fuentes and West have been spotted together on multiple occasions.

Most notably, they appeared on InfoWars, the far-right conspiracy show hosted by Alex Jones, “who owes hundreds of millions in damages to the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims”, said the LA Times.

Wearing a full-face balaclava on the show, West, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016, said: “I see good things about Hitler also ... this guy that invented highways, invented the very microphone that I use as a musician, you can’t say out loud that this person ever did anything good.”

Then in a separate video posted online by the rapper about the dinner he had with Trump and Fuentes, West said: “Trump is really impressed with Nick Fuentes”, describing him as a “loyalist”.

Is Fuentes dangerous?

Trump’s claims that he only dined with Fuentes because he didn’t know anything about him “have fallen short”, said The New York Times. In the immediate aftermath, Bill Cassidy, a Republican senator from Louisiana, wrote on Twitter: “President Trump hosting racist antisemites for dinner encourages other racist antisemites. These attitudes are immoral and should not be entertained. This is not the Republican Party.” Other Republicans including Susan Collins, a senator from Maine, denounced the dinner as well.

Even by rubbing shoulders with such high-profile public figures as West and Trump, Fuentes is “normalizing hate and ramping up the risk of violence in a country already experiencing a sharp increase in antisemitism”, said the Chicago Sun-Times.

For his part, Fuentes claims that his more extreme positions are simply ironic. But in doing so, he is “following a playbook popular among domestic extremists: using irony and claims of ‘just joking’ to spread their message, while deflecting criticism”, said NPR.

And often, the person who chooses to associate themselves with Fuentes is the one who gets criticised rather than Fuentes himself, misinformation expert Caroline Orr told Vice.

“It’s almost like the toxicity of Nick Fuentes rubs off on the person he associates with, rather than himself,” said Orr. “The person who he’s with ends up getting most of the negative energy and attention, and he kind of just waltzes away.”

Certainly this is true of his association with West, Vice said. The rapper has seen his reputation plummet, while “searches for [Fuentes’s] name on Google have soared”.

Yeezy Apparel, a fashion company run by embattled rapper Ye, owes at least $600,000 in unpaid taxes to the state of California, NBC News reported Wednesday.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, reportedly owns and manages the Yeezy brand, and has recently claimed that four of his personal accounts have been frozen due to tax debt, NBC reported. Now, it appears that the six figures that Yeezy owes to California may be a significant addition to his financial woes.

At least three separate letters have been sent to Ye since July 2021 regarding the company's debt, per NBC. The letters came in the form of state tax liens, which the outlet noted is "a claim made on a person or entity's assets in response to an alleged debt."

"Multiple California tax liens, adding up to $600,000, that's certainly a sign of either extreme incompetence or extreme cash problems," USC law professor Edward McCaffery told NBC.

This marks yet another chapter in the controversies surrounding Ye, whose recently espoused antisemitic views caused him to lose numerous business deals. This includes being dropped from a shoe deal with Adidas estimated to have a negative impact of at least $246 million on the rapper.

Ye was estimated to have lost massive amounts of wealth as a result of the fallout from his comments, and Forbes recently removed him from their list of billionaires. However, even after all the backlash, Ye doubled down on his views, appearing on the radio show of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and openly praising Adolf Hitler.

Sacha Baron Cohen has returned as Borat to address some very not nice comments by Ye.

The comedian took the stage at Sunday's Kennedy Center Honors in character as Borat to joke about the recent string of antisemitic comments made by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. Baron Cohen is Jewish, but his character, a journalist from Kazakhstan, is notoriously antisemitic in the Borat films, which expose real people who agree with his extreme viewpoints.

"I must say I'm very upset about the antisemitism in the U.S. today," Baron Cohen said as Borat, per Deadline. "It's not fair. Kazakhstan is the number one Jew crushing nation. Stop stealing our hobby. Stop the steal. Stop the steal."

Baron Cohen's Borat went on to address Ye specifically, joking, "He tried to move to Kazakhstan and even tried to change his name to Kazakhstan-ye West. But we said no. He's too antisemitic even for us." The rapper recently defended Adolf Hitler and Nazis, and he was suspended from Twitter for posting an image of a Star of David combined with a swastika.

Baron Cohen also joked about former President Donald Trump, calling him "the president of U.S." and pretending to confuse him with President Biden, who was in attendance, per Deadline.

"You don't look so good," he said, addressing Biden. "Where has your blown a-- big belly gone? And your pretty orange skin without fail."

The Anti-Defamation League invited Baron Cohen to deliver an address in 2019 discussing how he uses his comedy to expose antisemitism. "I've tried to use my characters to get people to let down their guard and reveal what they actually believe, including their own prejudice," he said, adding that the original Borat revealed "people's indifference to antisemitism."

A tattoo removal studio is offering to remove Kanye West tattoos for free, according to CNN. After the controversial rapper was accused of promoting anti-semitism and praising Adolf Hitler, the NAAMA studio in London announced it would be offering the free removal. The offer has already received “global interest and a great response”, said Briony Garbett, NAAMA’s CEO. “It seems there are a few former fans with tattoo regret,” he added.

Snowed-in pub goers have ‘surreal’ reunion

Revellers who spent three nights snowed in at Britain’s highest pub have held a reunion at the venue a year later, reported the BBC. Dozens of guests were trapped by heavy snow at the Tan Hill Inn, in the Yorkshire Dales, after going to see an Oasis tribute band in 2021. The same band, No Way Sis, was booked to play at the reunion event. Martin Overton, from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, said the experience was “quite surreal”. Gaz Paine, No Way Sis lead singer, said: “It’s good to be back, but good to know we can get home again.”

Skinner has backstage row with royal

Frank Skinner had a backstage argument with the Countess of Wessex after she criticised his performance of Three Lions at the Royal Variety Performance. Skinner recalled how, after he sang the England football anthem at the Royal Albert Hall, Sophie said: “Well, don’t give up your day job.” When she told them they were not used to live audiences, Skinner replied that as a stand-up comic he had “done a bit of live stuff”. The royal said: “Yeah, but you haven’t done anywhere the size of this.” Skinner replied: “Look, I did the Palladium last Sunday.” He said she looked at him as if you say: “You’re not supposed to be arguing.”

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Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, will not be buying the conservative social media site Parler, as announced in October, Parler's parents company said Thursday afternoon. "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," the company said on Twitter. "This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November."

Ye and Parler announced the deal after Ye's Twitter and Instagram accounts were suspended following a series of antisemitic tweets and statements. At the time, Parlement CEO George Farmer — the husband of Candace Owens, a conservative commentator who is friendly with Ye — said the company needed Ye's "marketing power," adding that Ye was interested in the site because of his concerns about "Big Tech censorship," The Washington Post reports. Ye's Twitter account was reinstated on Nov. 21.

A Parler spokeswoman told the Post that the deal with Ye was terminated "mainly due to his recent and well-publicized business difficulties." Ye's "precarious financial situation — including the loss of his Adidas deal — played a role in the deal collapse," Axios reports, citing "a source familiar with the situation."

Ye's reputation and business deals have suffered as his public antisemitic comments grew wilder and more conspiratorial over the past few months, and Parler issued its statement shortly after he repeatedly praised Adolf Hitler on Alex Jones' Infowars program and said he likes Nazis. Ye's subsequent tweets, including a swastika inside a Star of David, earned him another Twitter suspension Thursday night.

Kanye West's eventful Thursday ended with him being suspended from Twitter again, two weeks after the social media company reinstated his account following Elon Musk's ownership. "I tried my best," Musk tweeted late Thursday. "Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended." The final straw for West, who now goes by Ye, was apparently posting a Jewish Star of David with a swastika in the middle.

Twitter removed that post, and Ye started posting screenshots purporting to be text exchanges he had with Musk over on rival social media site Truth Social. "Sorry, but you have gone too far," Musk apparently wrote about the swastika image. "This is not love." Ye wrote back: "Who made you the judge." Musk, according to the screenshots, then quoted the first part of the Lord's Prayer, to which Ye replied, "I'm Jesus name," and then posted a screenshot of a noticed his account has been suspended for 12 hours.

Before being booted from the site, Ye posted an unflattering photo of Musk being hosed down, topless, by Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel. "Let's always remember this as my final tweet," he tweeted. "That is fine," Musk replied.

"This is not," he replied under the image of the swastika (presumably, since that post was removed). "Just clarifying that his account is being suspended for incitement to violence, not an unflattering pic of me being hosed by Ari," Musk clarified in another tweet. "Frankly, I found those pics to be helpful motivation to lose weight!"

Ye's account was initially banned in October after started his downward spiral of antisemitic screeds. That spiral hit a new low earlier Thursday when he went on Alex Jones' Infowar show with his new pal white supremacist Nick Fuentes and repeatedly expressed his admiration for Adolf Hitler and Nazis.

Still, Musk has called himself a "free speech absolutist" and vowed to make Twitter a haven for "free speech." He has recently started citing the Bible to explain his general amnesty for previously banned Twitter accounts, but as Talking Points Memo chief Josh Marshall noted early Friday, it's not clear just what will get you kicked off Twitter anymore.

Ye has taken his string of antisemitic comments to the next level by going on far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' show and praising Adolf Hitler.

The rapper formerly known as Kanye West appeared on Alex Jones' InfoWars Thursday alongside white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who recently joined him for a dinner with former President Donald Trump. They discussed the controversy over Ye's repeated antisemitic comments, with Jones defending the rapper by saying, "You're not Hitler. You're not a Nazi. You don't deserve to be called that and demonized." Despite this defense, Ye openly stated, "I like Hitler."

"I see good things about Hitler also," he said, calling the German dictator "this guy that invented highways and invented the very microphone that I use" while declaring that "Jewish people are not going to tell me" that he can't say Hitler "did anything good."

These comments lined up with previous reporting that Ye has a history of praising Hitler and Nazis. CNN reported in October that rapper has an "obsession" with Hitler and even wanted to name an album after him, and NBC News reported he paid a settlement to a former employee who witnessed "more than one incident in which Ye praised Hitler or Nazis in business meetings." Former TMZ staffer Van Lathan also alleged that during a visit to the TMZ offices in 2018, Ye said, "I love Hitler. I love Nazis."

Ye also defended Nazis on InfoWars after Jones called them "thugs" who "did a lot of really bad things," with the rapper shooting back, "They did good things, too. We've got to stop dissing Nazis all the time."

Ye's Twitter account was restricted in October after he tweeted that he would go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE." But he has since returned, and he said Thursday he would let Jones and Fuentes, who are both banned from the platform, tweet from his account.

The Kimye divorce saga is officially over.

Kim Kardashian and Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, have reportedly finalized their divorce after nearly two years.

Kardashian and Ye have reached a divorce settlement, under which they will get joint custody with "equal access" to their children, and Ye will pay Kardashian $200,000 a month in child support, TMZ reports. "That's just his share," TMZ notes, and he'll reportedly be responsible for 50 percent of the kids' educational and security expenses. But TMZ reports that despite agreeing to equal access, sources say Kardashian "will have the kids the lion's share of the time."

Kardashian filed for divorce from Ye in February 2021 after almost seven years of marriage. They share four children: North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm. In the time since the filing, Ye went through multiple divorce lawyers and publicly claimed that Kardashian is "still my wife" while reportedly refusing to participate in divorce proceedings, including by failing to show up to a scheduled deposition.

In March 2022, a judge granted Kardashian's request to be declared legally single. In a filing, she said that the "court terminating our marital status will help Kanye to accept that our marital relationship is over and to move forward on a better path which will assist us in peacefully co-parenting our children."

The divorce settlement comes as businesses have been severing ties with Ye over a string of antisemitic comments, which led Forbes to conclude he is no longer a billionaire, and Page Six said he could "face financial crisis within months."

Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, has been accused of repeatedly showing employees pornographic videos and explicit images in the workplace — including of his own wife.

That's according to a new report from Rolling Stone, which cites former Yeezy and Adidas staffers who allege Ye showed pornography during meetings on multiple occasions and shared "explicit video and photos" of Kim Kardashian, his wife at the time.

In one incident, the report describes a job interview Ye conducted in 2018, during which he allegedly pulled out his phone and announced "my wife just sent me this" before showing a "very revealing" photo of Kardashian. In another 2018 incident, West allegedly showed an explicit video of Kardashian to Yeezy creative team members, Rolling Stone reports, and two creatives alleged Ye also showed them his own "homemade sex tapes."

This was part of an alleged pattern of behavior that involved Ye making people he worked with uncomfortable by showing them pornographic images, an apparent intimidation tactic, as the report outlines. One former staffer recalled staffers walking out of a meeting after Ye "pulled up MILF porn" and said the "feeling that you get when you watch this" is "what I want people to feel when they put on our shoes."

This report, which comes as the fallout from Ye's string of antisemitic remarks continues, lines up with a 30-minute video the rapper released on YouTube, in which he shows Adidas executives pornography during a business meeting. "Is this a porn movie?" one of the men in the video asks. Ye claimed in September that "pornography destroyed my family."

Adidas has since severed ties with Ye over his antisemitic comments. But according to Rolling Stone, former Yeezy team members are accusing the company of being aware of the rapper's "problematic behavior" before this and turning "their moral compass off." Read the full report at Rolling Stone.

Former President Donald Trump isn't the only one allowed back on Twitter.

Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, returned to Twitter for the first time in several weeks on Sunday after his account was restricted in October over antisemitic remarks. He referenced the backlash by tweeting, "Shalom" — and this tweet was "liked" by Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

Twitter placed restrictions on Ye's account in October over a shocking antisemitic post, in which he threatened to go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE," though he was never permanently banned from the platform. In the following weeks, Ye continued to double down on his antisemitic comments, leading multiple companies including Adidas to cut ties with him.

In his first post on Twitter since early November, Ye said he was "testing" to see "if my Twitter is unblocked." Musk replied, "Don't kill what ye hate Save what ye love." Musk previously said Ye's "account was restored by Twitter" prior to his acquisition of the platform, and "they did not consult with or inform me."

Meanwhile, Ye, in a video shared on YouTube by X17 Online, said he plans to run for president again in 2024 and claimed controversial far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos is working on his campaign. Ye ran for president in 2020 under the "Birthday Party" but didn't appear on the ballot in many states. He reportedly received only 60,000 votes.

These comments came despite Ye claiming on Nov. 3 he would take a "verbal fast" for 30 days.

Twitter users worldwide are fleeing to Mastodon and other social media rivals as the backlash against Elon Musk’s buyout escalates.

Since the $44bn (£37.9bn) takeover was completed late last month, Musk’s Twitter has been characterised by “layoffs, controversial product changes, an expected shift in its approach to content moderation and a jump in hateful rhetoric”, said CNN. Those changes have left “legions” of users looking to leave “for greener pastures”, said Tech Radar, and Mastodon has “emerged as the new platform of choice”.

According to a tweet by Mastodon, the Twitter rival gained more than 70,000 new users overnight after Musk became “Chief Twit”.

What is Mastodon?

Dubbed the “Twitter killer”, Mastodon appears similar to the social media giant at first glance: users can follow each other and write posts of up to 500 characters – known as “toots” – that can be replied to, liked and re-posted, or “boosted”.

“Under the bonnet, though, it works in a different way,” said the BBC’s technology editor Zoe Kleinman. Mastodon describes itself as “a network of millions of users in independent communities that can all interact with one another”.

Mastodon “links together” all of these communities (also known as servers), said Kleinman, “but they are owned by different people and organisations”.

“This means that there is no one server, company, organisation or individual running Mastodon,” said Yahoo! Finance, “making it the opposite of Twitter.” Anyone can create and control a Mastodon server, “giving it its own set of rules, not unlike Reddit sub-pages”.

Servers are themed by interests, such as hobbies, issues or countries, and new joiners choose a server when signing up to Mastodon but can then follow users on other servers.

Mastodon “describes this server process as being similar to email”, said Tech Radar. “For example, while your email domain might be Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook or whatever else, you are nonetheless able to email anybody, anywhere.”

“It is a public square,” Mastodon tweeted last month. “It is a global, decentralised social network. Your server is where your account is hosted, communication is global.”

And this network is growing, despite critics pointing to problems including lack of moderation. Mastodon founder and CEO Eugen Rochko announced in a Mastodon post last Monday that the network had grown to “1,028,362 monthly active users”.

What are other Twitter alternatives?

Launched in February, Cohost features posts that “appear chronologically with no character limit”, and “users can create their own pages a la Tumblr or collaborate on pages with others, giving it more of a blog site feel than Twitter”, said The National.

Cohost also “promises no advertisements tracking or algorithms”, the news site added. Instead, Cohost tells users that “for now, you can give us a few bucks a month to help us keep the lights on”.

Billed as a “pro-democracy” alternative to Twitter, Tribel claims to offer “social media done right”, with a focus on safeguarding “morality, truth and We the People”. The platform “prides itself on news feed customisation”, said Variety, so is a good option “if you’re looking to avoid a doom-scrolling spiral”. However, UnHerd was less impressed, describing the “left-wing rival” to Twitter as a “sort of pick-your-political-party cash grab”.

For “kinder, gentler way to keep in touch with your friends, family, colleagues or people you went to high school with”, try uSync, suggested USA Today. Launched last month, the platform allows users to post “long-form blog-style content with text, video and photos” or shorter “Scribbles”, but charges them a subscription fee to do so.

Along with the various newcomers, more familiar platforms such as Facebook may fulfil former tweeters’ social media needs, said Monica Chin in an article on “how to deactivate your Twitter account” for The Verge. “Yes, there are a lot of horrible, terrible, no good, very bad things about Facebook,” she wrote, “but if you miss the ability to keep up with family and friends on Twitter, you can do that on Facebook, too.”

Other long-standing networks that may scratch the post-Twitter itch include Tumblr. Founded in 2007, Tumblr is “is less influencer-drenched than the more mainstream networks”, said the London Evening Standard. And Reddit, which has been around since 2005, is “a great place to indulge in hobbies with like-minded folks”.

Kanye West has been courting controversy for years, said Christopher Grimes in the FT. In 2009, the billionaire rapper and businessman ambushed Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at a music awards event, invading the stage to claim that Beyoncé should have won instead. In 2018, he said that for black Americans, slavery had been a “choice”. In between, there were erratic outbursts, feuds, and flirtations with the far-right.

Through all this, West continued to “enjoy the support of the entertainment and fashion industries, thanks to his ability to sell records, sportswear and concert tickets”. But last month, all that unravelled, when he wore a shirt bearing the slogan “White Lives Matter” at a fashion show in Paris, then unleashed a barrage of antisemitic comments – starting with the tweet that he was going “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE”. Within days, he’d been suspended by Twitter, and dropped by his talent agency, his lawyers, his bankers, and a range of creative partners, including Gap.

Yet he might have survived the furore, said Andrew Lawrence in The Guardian, had Adidas not crumbled, and said that it would no longer distribute his Yeezy shoes – a move that wiped $247m from its quarterly profit forecasts. “Now, with just about all his collaborators gone, West isn’t just off Forbes’s billionaire list. He’s a toxic asset.” Even the right-wing pundit Candace Owens – who wore the same T-shirt as him in Paris – won’t have him on her show; and last week, he was escorted out of the HQ of the footwear brand Skechers, after turning up there unannounced.

‘What took them so long?’

My only question, said Ryan Coogan in The Independent, is what took them so long? West suffers from bipolar disorder, which might have played some part in his behaviour; but what excuse do these firms have for turning a blind eye to his hate-filled rhetoric “right up until the moment” they couldn’t afford not to?

That West has been ejected from polite society may look like a blow against antisemitism, said Yair Rosenberg on The Atlantic. And it is “better than the alternative”. But the “cruel paradox” is that it also risks fuelling the delusion that it was designed to combat – that Jews control the world. And make no mistake, West’s espousal of this conspiracy theory was not unusual: it was just harder to ignore.

Last week, there was outrage when a banner reading “Kanye is right about the Jews” appeared over an LA freeway; but neo-Nazis have been hanging antisemitic banners there for years. It took a celebrity meltdown to “momentarily focus attention” on a prejudice that “society prefers not to notice”.

In recent weeks, one business after another has cut ties with Kanye West over the rapper's series of antisemitic comments. Here is a complete timeline of the controversy and the ongoing fallout:

Oct. 3

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, first draws backlash in October 2022 after wearing a controversial "White Lives Matter" shirt during a Paris Fashion Week show. The Anti-Defamation League describes "White Lives Matter" as a "white supremacist phrase" and a "racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement."

"It's a dangerously dumb message to send for someone with his massive platform," The Atlantic writer Jemele Hill tweets. Ye draws support from controversial conservative commentator Candace Owens, who also wears a "White Lives Matter" shirt.

Oct. 6

Amid the ongoing controversy, Adidas announces it has placed its partnership with West "under review."

Ye appears on Tucker Carlson Tonight and defends wearing his "White Lives Matter" shirt, telling the Fox News host he "thought the idea of me wearing it was funny" and that he drew from his "gut instinct, a connection with God, and just brilliance." He added, "The answer to why I wrote 'White Lives Matter' on a shirt is because they do. It's the obvious thing."

Oct. 7 and Oct. 8

On Instagram, Ye makes an antisemitic post suggesting rapper Diddy is being controlled by Jewish people in response to Diddy slamming his "White Lives Matter" shirt.

After having his Instagram account restricted as a result, Ye subsequently returns to Twitter and slams Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, tweeting, "How you gone kick me off instagram."

"Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!" Elon Musk, who at the time was in the process of purchasing Twitter, responds.

But later that night, Ye tweets, "I'm a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE," claiming, "I actually can't be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda."

Oct. 9

Twitter confirms Ye's account has been locked "due to a violation of Twitter's policies," and the "death con 3" tweet is removed. The Anti-Defamation League condemns Ye for his "dangerous" posts.

Oct. 10

Elon Musk, who did not yet officially own Twitter, says he talked to Ye and "expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart."

Oct. 11

A report from Vice News reveals Ye expressed "numerous antisemitic sentiments" in his Tucker Carlson interview that were cut from the broadcast, as well as other bizarre statements, including that "professional actors" were "placed into my house to sexualize my kids."

Oct. 12

The Shop, the talk show with LeBron James, says it won't air an episode with Ye because he used it to "reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes."

Oct. 16

Ye appears for a more than three-hour interview on the Drink Champs podcast and makes more antisemitic comments, talking about "Jewish business secrets" and "Jewish Zionists" while claiming "Jewish people have owned the Black voice." He expresses confidence that Adidas will not end its business relationship with him.

"I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can't drop me," he asserts.

Ye also falsely claims in the interview that George Floyd, who was killed in police custody in 2020, actually died from fentanyl, even though Derek Chauvin was convicted of his murder. "If you look, the guy's knee wasn't even on his neck like that," Ye says. The podcast is later removed.

Oct. 17

Ye announces he is purchasing Parler, the conservative social media platform popular on the right and especially among supporters of former President Donald Trump. The company's CEO is also Candace Owens' husband.

That same day, Ye speaks with former CNN host Chris Cuomo in a contentious interview, in which the rapper says he doesn't "believe" in the term antisemitism and claims he is being attacked by the "Jewish underground media mafia." Cuomo repeatedly condemns Ye during in the interview, telling him his comments are "ugly," "inherently antisemitic," and "damaging to decency."

Oct. 18

George Floyd's family begins preparing to sue Ye for $250 million for the "blatantly false" and "malicious" claims about his death made during the Drink Champs podcast. "George Floyd's daughter is being retraumatized by Kanye West's comments and he's creating an unsafe and unhealthy environment for her," attorney Nuru Witherspoon says.

Oct. 21

A spokesperson for Vogue tells Page Six "that neither the magazine nor its editor-in-chief Anna Wintour intend to work with Kanye West again," and the fashion house Balenciaga's parent company says it "has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to" Ye.

Meanwhile, Ye gives a 100-minute interview to Piers Morgan, in which he says he's "absolutely not" sorry for his antisemitic comments.

"Racism is racism, and you know that, I think, don't you?" Morgan asks Ye, who responds, "Yeah, obviously, that's why I said it."

"So you said it knowing it's racist?" Morgan asks, and Ye tells him, "Yes. I fought fire with fire."

Oct. 22

An antisemitic hate group reportedly holds banners over a busy Los Angeles freeway, one of which says, "Kanye is right about the Jews." A "number of people raised their arms in a Nazi salute" while standing behind the banners, NBC News reports.

Political leaders condemn the group's actions, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who tweets, "Hate speech opens the door to hateful action. This weekend's antisemitic protests in L.A. were disgusting and cannot be normalized or brushed aside. Words matter, and in California we'll always speak out against racial, ethnic, and religious hate when it rears its ugly head."

Oct. 24

In an interview published Oct. 24, Ye speaks with MIT research scientist Lex Fridman and makes more antisemitic statements, slamming "Jewish record labels" and saying, "A Jewish friend of mine said, 'Go visit the Holocaust Museum,' and my response was, let's visit our Holocaust Museum: Planned Parenthood."

Ye's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, shares a statement on social media saying, "Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end." However, she does not mention Ye in the post. Kardashian's sisters, Khloé, Kendall, and Kylie, and their mother Kris Jenner, also share statements in support of the Jewish community.

That same day, the Hollywood talent agency CAA confirms it has stopped representing Ye, and a completed documentary about him from MRC is shelved, Variety reports. "We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform," MRC studio executives say.

Also on Oct. 24, TMZ reports that Camille Vasquez, the attorney who represented Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard defamation trial, will no longer be working with Ye, just days after the outlet reported Ye hired her. Vasquez's law firm "attempted to work with Kanye, but only under the condition he publicly retract his hateful and antisemitic words," TMZ reports. Ye reportedly "refused to do so, and fired" the firm.

Oct. 25

Adidas announces it has "immediately" ended its business relationship with Ye because of his antisemitic comments.

"Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech," the company says. "Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness."

Adidas estimates that this decision will "have a short-term negative impact of up to" $246 million on its net income in 2022.

That same day, Gap and Foot Locker also announce they are pulling Yeezy products from stores. Ye's partnership with Gap already ended a month earlier.

"In September, Gap announced ending its Yeezy Gap partnership," Gap says. "Our former partner's recent remarks and behavior further underscore why. … Antisemitism, racism, and hate in any form are inexcusable and not tolerated in accordance with our values."

Additionally, the Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown announces he is "terminating my association with" Ye's marketing agency Donda Sports. The Los Angeles Rams' Aaron Donald also decides to "part ways with Donda Sports" due to Ye's "recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism." Peloton also announces it won't use any of Ye's music in "newly produced classes."

As the fallout continues, Forbes reports that as a result of Adidas ending its relationship with Ye, the rapper is no longer a billionaire. The deal with Adidas accounted "for $1.5 billion of his net worth," Forbes says, so his net worth has dropped to $400 million.

Oct. 26

Skechers releases a statement revealing Ye "showed up unannounced and uninvited" to one of its corporate offices in Los Angeles.

"Considering Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation," the company says. "Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West. We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech." Commentators assume Ye's visit was about trying to secure a new home for his Yeezy shoes after the end of the Adidas deal, though Skechers doesn't provide further details.

TJ Maxx also says it has "instructed our buying teams not to purchase" Yeezy merchandise, and Madame Tussauds in London removes a wax figure of Ye "from the attraction floor to our archive."

But Spotify CEO Daniel Ek tells Reuters that while the rapper's comments were "just awful," his music won't be removed. "His music doesn't violate our policy," Ek says. "It's up to his label, if they want to take action or not."

Oct. 27

Parents of students at Donda Academy, Ye's private school, receive an email from the principal stating that "at the discretion of our founder, Donda Academy will close for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year effective immediately," TMZ reports.

However, just hours later, an email reportedly goes out saying the school isn't closing after all and that "with the help of our parents and community, we are back and returning with a vengeance!" But TMZ says the school "may be shut down for good" because Ye's antisemitic comments "triggered the departure of a growing number of teachers and staff."

Additionally, a report from CNN emerges alleging that Ye "has long been fascinated by Adolf Hitler" and even wanted to name his 2018 album after Hitler before changing the name to Ye. "He would praise Hitler by saying how incredible it was that he was able to accumulate so much power and would talk about all the great things he and the Nazi Party achieved for the German people," a business executive who worked with Ye told CNN. This lined up with a previous claim from former TMZ employee Van Lathan, who alleged on his Higher Learning podcast that he heard Ye saying he "loved Hitler and the Nazis" in 2018.

Ye soon returns to Instagram and claims he "lost 2 billion dollars in one day," adding, "This is love speech."

Oct. 28

Speaking to the paparazzi, Ye apologizes for his comments about George Floyd's death, but in the process, he controversially compares himself to Floyd.

"When I said that, and I questioned the death of George Floyd, it hurt my people," he says. "It hurt the Black people. So I want to apologize for hurting them because right now, God has shown me, by what Adidas is doing and by what the media is doing, I know how it feels to have a knee on my neck now."

But Ye once again doubles down on his antisemitic comments while speaking with the paparazzi, reading off a list of companies with Jewish executives. "If you look at the definition of defcon, it means to get extra defense, which obviously I must have needed," he says. He also claims a "Jewish doctor" misdiagnosed him with "having a disorder that would have had me on medication right now."

Oct. 30

Page Six reports that Ye "could face financial crisis within months" because he has "five sources of income" and "four of them have been either completely shut down or badly compromised," including his deals with Adidas and Gap.

Despite this, Ye continues making antisemitic comments. After returning to Instagram, he posts a screenshot of a text exchange with Russell Simmons, saying he's "gotta get the Jewish business people to make the contracts fair." He also shares a graphic photo of Emmett Till and rants against Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, who had called for businesses to boycott Ye.

"You tried to bankrupt adidas and me at the same time … Now eeeeveryone knows how much power you 'Business' people actually have," Ye writes. He subsequently says on Parler he has been "kicked off Instagram for 30 days."

Nov. 2

NBC News reports that Ye settled with a former employee who alleged he "praised Hitler or Nazis in business meetings," an allegation the rapper denied.

The report also says that six sources who have either worked with Ye or witnessed him in professional environments during the past five years have "heard him mention conspiracy theories about Jewish people or praise Hitler." One former employee alleges he said Hitler "had some good qualities" and "wasn't all bad" in 2018.

"I feel like he was just kind of like looking around, like seeing like, how are people reacting?" a former employee tells NBC. "He would say 'I even love Hitler' and then he would like pause for reactions."

Three sources also tell the outlet that Ye went on an antisemitic rant at the TMZ offices in 2018, supporting Van Lathan's claim that he praised Hitler but that this footage was cut from the interview. A former TMZ employee tells NBC that founder Harvey Levin "came back into the edit bay and said, cut out anything related to Jews, to that type of antisemitism."

Nov. 3

Ye returns to Twitter and posts an image of Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets player who had been facing criticism for promoting an antisemitic movie. Prior to Ye's tweet, Irving said he was "aware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community and I take responsibility" and announced he would donate $500,000 to "causes and organizations that work to eradicate hate and intolerance in our communities." Ye's tweet did not contain any text, though he previously shared a picture of Irving on Instagram with the caption, "There's some real ones still here."

Nov. 4

Ye compares the term antisemitic to the N-word in a tweet, which is taken down.

Nov. 12

Comedian Dave Chappelle hosts Saturday Night Live and delivers a monologue about Ye's antisemitism backlash, only to draw backlash himself. "If they're Black, then it's a gang," Chappelle jokes. "If they're Italian, it's a mob. But if they're Jewish, it's a coincidence and you should never speak about it."

In response, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweets, "We shouldn't expect @DaveChappelle to serve as society's moral compass, but disturbing to see @nbcsnl not just normalize but popularize #antisemitism. Why are Jewish sensitivities denied or diminished at almost every turn? Why does our trauma trigger applause?"

Nov. 20

Ye is spotted with alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. In a video shared by X17 Online, the rapper claims he will run for president again in 2024 and that Yiannopoulos is working on his campaign.

That same day, Ye again returns to Twitter, "testing" to see "if my Twitter is unblocked" before tweeting, "Shalom." The tweet is "liked" by Twitter CEO Elon Musk, who also tweets at the rapper, "Don't kill what ye hate Save what ye love."

Nov. 22

A report from Rolling Stone cites former Yeezy and Adidas employees who allege the rapper "used intimidation tactics with the staff of his fashion empire that were provocative, frequently sexualized, and often directed toward women," including showing pornography in business meetings and even explicit images of his wife, Kim Kardashian.

Reports later reveal Ye attended a Nov. 22 dinner at Mar-a-Lago with former President Donald Trump and white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, sparking heavy criticism of the former president. "Bigotry, hate, and antisemitism have absolutely no place in America — including at Mar-A-Lago," White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates says.

Nov. 25

In a statement, Trump says Ye "very much wanted to visit Mar-a-Lago" and their dinner "was intended to be Kanye and me only, but he arrived with a guest whom I had never met and knew nothing about."

Meanwhile, Ye posts a series of strange videos on social media about his meeting with Trump, including one where he says the former president was "perturbed" when he asked him "to be my vice president."

Ye also claims Trump was "really impressed" with Fuentes and that the former president "started basically screaming at me at the table, telling me I was gonna lose," and insulted his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian. "I was like, hold on, hold on, hold on, Trump," he says. "You're talking to Ye."

Nov. 24

Adidas says it will launch an investigation following Rolling Stone's report that Ye played pornography to staffers.

"We take these allegations very seriously and have taken the decision to launch an independent investigation of the matter immediately to address the allegations," a spokesperson tells Rolling Stone.

Nov 26

In a new statement, Trump claims he met with Ye to "help" a "seriously troubled man, who happens to be Black," because he has "been decimated in his business and virtually everything else."

Nov. 28

Ye is interviewed by podcaster Tim Pool but storms out only 20 minutes in after the host pushes back somewhat on the rapper's antisemitic comments.

"I think they've been extremely unfair to you," Pool says, leading Ye to ask, "Who is they, though?" When Pool declines to identify "they" as Jewish people, Ye immediately storms off the set.

Dec. 1

Ye appears on far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' show and repeatedly makes shocking antisemitic statements, including denying the Holocaust and openly praising Adolf Hitler.

"I like Hitler," Ye says. "I'm not trying to be shocking. I like Hitler. The Holocaust is not what happened, let's look at the facts of that, and Hitler has a lot of redeeming qualities."

Ye also tells Jones that he loves Nazis, who "did good things too," and that "every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler." Jones appears taken aback by Ye's open praise of Hitler, asking him if he's trolling, but the rapper reiterates he believes that Hitler "seems like a cool guy" and falsely claims he "didn't kill six million Jews."

Ye faces widespread backlash for the interview, which is seen as a significant escalation of his prior antisemitic rhetoric and also appears to confirm earlier reports that he has privately expressed admiration of Hitler. The Republican Jewish Coalition condemns the "horrific cesspool of dangerous, bigoted Jew hatred" and calls the rapper a "vile, repellent bigot." The comments also prompt the GOP House Judiciary Committee to delete an Oct. 6 tweet that simply said, "Kanye. Elon. Trump."

Later that evening, Ye tweets an image combining a Jewish Star of David with a swastika, leading him to be suspended from the platform. "I tried my best," Musk tweets. "Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended."

Parler also confirms that Ye is no longer buying the social media platform. "The company has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler," the company says. "This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November."

Dec. 2

Backlash to Ye's pro-Hitler statements continue with President Biden weighing in. The president tweets, "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. Silence is complicity."

The fallout from Kanye West's antisemitic remarks is continuing, as the rapper has been escorted out of Skechers' corporate officers after an unwelcome visit.

The footwear company said in a statement that Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, "showed up unannounced and uninvited" to its corporate offices in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

"Considering Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation," the company said. "Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West."

Ye seemingly visited Skechers looking for a new home for his Yeezy shoes, according to TMZ, which notes he may not have realized Skechers is owned by a Jewish family. Earlier this week, Adidas announced it would end a partnership with Ye over the rapper's recent "unacceptable, hateful and dangerous" antisemitic comments, though Bloomberg reports the company still plans to sell Yeezy designs without the branding.

As a result of the terminated Adidas deal, Forbes said Ye is officially no longer a billionaire and that his net worth is now $400 million. In a return to Instagram, the rapper claimed he lost "2 billion dollars in one day" over what he described as "love speech."

Meanwhile, TMZ reports Ye's private school, Donda Academy, has closed its doors for the rest of the 2022-2023 school year. The principal, Jason Angell, reportedly said in an email to parents this step was being taken "at the discretion of our founder."

Kanye West's empire has now crumbled to the point that he is "no longer a billionaire," Forbes reported.

The rapper, who is legally known as Ye, officially lost his billionaire status on Tuesday when he was dropped by Adidas — in addition to several other brands including Gap and Balenciaga — for making antisemitic statements.

Earlier in the month, Adidas shared that its partnership with Ye was "under review," Billboard notes, after comments he made on the Drink Champs podcast: "[T]he thing about it being Adidas is, like, I can literally say antisemitic s--t and they can't drop me," Ye said. "I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can't drop me. Now what?" The episode has since been removed for the string of other unrelated "false and hurtful" remarks he made on topics such as the death of George Floyd, The Hollywood Reporter notes.

"Losing Adidas was the final nail in Ye's net-worth coffin," Forbes writes, adding that without the athletic company, he's now only worth $400 million. A source close to Skims — Ye's ex-wife Kim Kardashian's brand — reportedly told Forbes that most of the rapper's wealth now derives from real estate, cash, music, and his 5 percent stake in Skims.

In addition to those dissolved brand deals, production company MRC recently shared that it wouldn't be putting out a completed documentary on him, Forbes reported.

Adidas' relationship with Kanye West has come to an end.

The company said Tuesday it has "immediately" terminated its partnership with West, who is legally known as over the rapper's recent string of antisemitic comments.

"Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech," the company said in a statement. "Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness."

West's Twitter account was restricted this month after he tweeted that he would go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE," which he followed up with further antisemitic comments. Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo pushed back on the rapper in an interview, in which West complained about a "Jewish underground media mafia." In an appearance on Drink Champs on Oct. 16, West also claimed, "I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can't drop me."

Adidas faced growing pressure to end its partnership with West prior to the Tuesday announcement, and the company said cutting ties with him will result in "a short-term negative impact of up to" $246 million on its net income in 2022.

On Monday, the Hollywood talent agency CAA also cut ties with West, Johnny Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez stopped working with him, and MRC shelved a completed documentary about him.

"The silence from leaders and corporations when it comes to Kanye or antisemitism in general is dismaying but not surprising," executives from MRC said.

In a recent interview with Piers Morgan, West said he is "absolutely not" sorry about his "death con 3" tweet, though he apologized for causing "confusion."

Leaders in California have condemned an antisemitic hate group that stood above a busy Los Angeles freeway over the weekend with multiple banners, including one that read, "Kanye is right about the Jews."

The banner referenced recent remarks made by rapper Kanye West, who now goes by the name Ye. After being criticized for wearing a "White Lives Matter" shirt at his YZY runway show in Paris, West tweeted, "I'm a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE." He has since had his Instagram and Twitter accounts locked.

The banners were placed on a bridge above Interstate 405 on Saturday, and witnesses recorded several people standing near them raising their arms in the Nazi salute. The non-profit organization StopAntisemitism.org says the Goyim Defense League was responsible for the banners. They are "known for espousing vitriolic antisemitism and white supremacist ideology," the Anti-Defamation League of Southern California tweeted.

Political leaders quickly denounced the banners, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) tweeting, "Hate speech opens the door to hateful action. This weekend's antisemitic protests in L.A. were disgusting and cannot be normalized or brushed aside. Words matter, and in California we'll always speak out against racial, ethnic, and religious hate when it rears its ugly head." Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) tweeted that he was "horrified" by the "vile antisemitism" on display, adding, "tragically, it shows the power some hold to amplify hateful language, and how quickly they can persuade others to express their own bigotry."

Hollywood celebrities are also speaking out against the rise in antisemitic incidents, including West's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, who tweeted on Monday, "Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end." Reese Witherspoon agreed, posting on Twitter Sunday night, "Antisemitism in any form is deplorable. In person. Online. Doesn't matter where. It's hate and it's unacceptable. Completely understand why my Jewish friends/colleagues are frightened for their families. This is a very scary time."

On Monday afternoon, the talent agency CAA confirmed that within the last month it stopped representing West as a client, but did not say if it was due to his antisemitic statements.

Kanye West's public turmoil continued Friday, when Business of Fashion reported that "Balenciaga has officially ended its relationship with Ye, [formerly known as Kanye West]."

The luxury fashion brand made the decision after "his controversial appearance on the podcast Drink Champs released last week, where he falsely claimed that George Floyd wasn't murdered but killed by fentanyl and made even more antisemitic remarks," Rolling Stone notes.

BoF says Kering, Balenciaga's parent company, also didn't have "any plans for future projects related to this artist."

The rapper's latest controversy began brewing after he wore a "White Lives Matter" t-shirt, drawing criticism from other notable people in the fashion industry including Tremaine Emory, creative director for Supreme — whom Ye also made a dig at during a separate incident, the Daily Mail notes.

Separately, his recent antisemitic tweets got him booted from Twitter and Instagram. West soon entered an agreement to buy Parler, the social media platform used by conservatives and especially supporters of former President Donald Trump as an alternative to Twitter. "In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves," West said.

This isn't the rapper's only business relationship that has ended recently. According to BoF, Gap also abruptly ended its partnership with him back in September.

Kanye West is to buy “uncancellable” social-media app Parler for an undisclosed amount in a deal “that will change the way the world thinks about free speech”, according to the platform.

In a joint statement after reaching an agreement in principle, the rapper said: “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial, we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves.”

‘Distancing himself from mainstream’

West, also known as Ye, has been banned from Twitter and Instagram after posting anti-Semitic messages last week. His Instagram account was suspended after he accused fellow rapper Diddy of being controlled by Jewish people. West then tweeted that he would go “death con three on Jewish people”, which led to his Twitter account being locked.

Announcing the Parler deal in a tweet on Monday, the Nashville-based company’s CEO George Farmer said that West “will never have to fear being removed from social media again”.

The musician is making a “new home for himself in the right-wing mediasphere” after “further and further distancing himself from the mainstream that once so worshipped him”, said Slate. He has “lost a lot of collaborators thanks to his public misbehaviour”, but conservatives “have embraced him”.

“And now, right-wing social media executives are happy to take his money and share in what remains of his glow,” the site added.

‘Bastions of free speech’

The “far-right is flocking” to alternative social-media apps such as Parler, which is styled as a “free speech” alternative to Twitter, said Forbes. Other popular platforms include Gab, also billed as a “right-wing alternative to Twitter”; Gettr, a platform “founded on the principles of free speech”; and Rumble, a conservative variation of YouTube.

Since launching in 2018, Parler has amassed more than 250,000 monthly active users on its iOS and Android apps, according to industry data shared with TechCrunch. The platform claims to have 15m registered users in total.

Parler was founded by John Matze and Rebekah Mercer, the daughter of Breitbart founder Robert Mercer, and “has raised about $56m across private funding rounds”, the tech news site reported.

But despite attracting some big-name backers, “right-wing platforms are one-trick ponies”, argued Darren Linvill, lead researcher at the Media Forensics Hub at South Carolina’s Clemson University.

Building a robust social media platform requires “multiple perspectives so you can have lots of different conversations happening to bring in lots of different kinds of people”, Linvill told The Washington Post. But right-wing platforms are “only going to, by their nature, appeal to the type of person they are branded to appeal to, and there’s only so many people in that world”.

An analysis by the paper at the start of this year found that, following a surge in the wake of the Capitol riots on 6 January 2021, audiences on far-right platforms had “stagnated”.

Such apps are “most appealing to what’s ultimately a niche crowd”, said MSNBC’s political columnist Zeeshan Aleem. “When you’re a political junkie on social media, it can be easy to experience the illusion that everyone else is too,” he continued. But in reality, these junkies “make up a small part of social media networks”.

The limited growth potential for right-wing apps such as Parler underscores “how getting kicked off the major mainstream apps for violating rules is a punishment with real consequences”.

And these consequences may include “derailing the growth trajectory of major right-wing figures and their ability to win over a general audience”, Aleem added, amid ongoing speculation that West may run for the US presidency in 2024.

Chris Cuomo grilled Kanye West over his series of antisemitic remarks in a contentious interview, during which he appeared to question the rapper's mental state.

The former CNN anchor conducted an interview with West on NewsNation after the rapper, who is legally known as Ye, tweeted that he would go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE." West made further antisemitic comments in the interview, ranting about what he characterized as the "Jewish underground media mafia" and complaining about times that "bad business has been done with me," also telling Cuomo he doesn't "believe" in the term antisemetic.

"There is no Jewish media cabal mafia," Cuomo told West. "That is a figment of either your imagination or a projection of a prejudice, okay? You may have had bad business dealings with people. It's about those people, it's not about their religion or faith."

Cuomo warned West about the dangers of targeting "people because of their faith," telling him that "what you're saying is not right" and that "this idea of the Jewish media" is "not how it works," to which West talked over him and began saying, "La la la la la la." The anchor also told West his comments are "ugly," "inherently antisemitic," and "damaging to decency," adding that "I can't give you unrestricted license to attack Jewish people."

Cuomo went on to observe that West, who suffers from bipolar disorder, is "out of control," asking him if he's "taking care of your health," which offended the rapper. The interview came after it was announced that West will buy the conservative social media platform Parler.

Kanye West is taking a page out of Elon Musk's playbook by buying a social media platform of his own.

The rapper, who is legally known as Ye, is set to acquire Parler, the social media platform used by conservatives and especially supporters of former President Donald Trump as an alternative to Twitter. Parlement Technologies said Monday it has entered into an agreement in principle to sell Parler to West, which it expects to close in the fourth quarter of 2022.

"In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves," West said.

This comes after the rapper had his Instagram and Twitter accounts restricted following a series of antisemitic posts. He drew widespread criticism after threatening to go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE" in a tweet, leading Twitter to lock his account.

Launched in 2018, Parler gained newfound attention after Trump was suspended from Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. In 2021, it went offline after Amazon Web Services removed it from its cloud hosting service following a warning that it had to "effectively identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence against others." Parler was also removed from Apple and Google's App Stores after Jan. 6, though it has since returned to both. The platform reportedly has fewer than one million monthly active users.

Parler's CEO is George Farmer, husband of Candace Owens, the controversial conservative commentator who defended West's antisemetic tweet. "This deal will change the world," Farmer said in a statement, "and change the way the world thinks about free speech."

Fox News host Tucker Carlson dedicated two nights of his top-rated hourlong show last week to his interview with Kanye West, now legally known as Ye. Carlson and the other hosts at Fox News were very enthusiastic about West and his comments — at least until West got suspended from Instagram and Twitter for a series of antisemitic posts over the weekend. But West also made some antisemitic comments during his sit-down with Carlson, Vice News reports, and Carlson's team edited them out.

Portions of the interview that didn't make the final cut, obtained by Vice's Motherboard site, included everything from "a simple statement of fact from Ye — 'I was vaccinated'" — to "numerous antisemitic sentiments" and "a strange and lengthy digression about 'fake children'" that West claimed were "placed into my house to sexualize my kids," Vice reports.

West complained about the school his children with Kim Kardashian attend, pointing to their lessons on Kwanzaa. "I prefer my kids knew Hanukkah than Kwanzaa," he told Carlson. "At least it will come with some financial engineering." He also elaborated on his tweeted shibboleth about Black people being the actual Jews, and he suggested Jewish people can't dance.

You can watch the unaired clips at Vice News, but the liberal media organization Media Matters juxtaposed some of West's excised comments about Jews with praise from Fox News hosts and guests.

Including these parts of the interview, and one where West talks about God giving him repeated visions about building "fully kinetic energy communities," "might have helped audiences understand Ye's state of mind, and general grasp on observable reality," Vice suggests, adding that West has "spoken frequently about living with bipolar disorder and experiencing manic episodes," and discussed pausing his mediations for periods of time (though he also wrote earlier this year that it's "dismissive" to "say I'm off my meds anytime I speak up").

Trevor Noah discussed West's antisemitic rants on Tuesday's Daily Show. Among other jokes and critiques of Ye's social media posts, Noah said he feels "sorry for American right-wingers, because they're getting Kanye now," not in his artistic prime. It's like "getting to date the high school prom king, but decades after high school," Noah said.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who may soon be the owner of Twitter, says he has spoken with Kanye West about the rapper's recent antisemitic post.

Musk in a tweet on Monday said he had a conversation with West earlier that day and "expressed my concerns about his recent tweet," which "I think he took to heart."

Twitter previously confirmed West's account was locked after a shocking antisemitic post, in which he threatened to go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE." The post has since been removed from Twitter, and West, who is legally known as Ye, has not posted since then.

Earlier, Meta restricted West's Instagram account, where he had suggested rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs was being controlled by Jewish people. West then returned to Twitter to the delight of Musk, who tweeted, prior to West's antisemitic post, "Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!"

West has drawn widespread criticism for his antisemitic posts in recent days, including from the Anti-Defamation League, which called his comments "dangerous."

West and Musk have praised one another in the past, and when the rapper announced he would run for president in 2020, Musk tweeted, "You have my full support!" The Tesla CEO recently offered to buy Twitter at his original price of 54.20 per share after trying to back away from the deal. He has said he wants to promote greater free speech on the platform.

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."

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."

Adidas says it is reviewing its partnership with Kanye West after the rapper and designer wore a shirt bearing the words “White Lives Matter” at Paris Fashion Week.

West, who is no stranger to controversy, appeared at an event wearing a top with “White Lives Matter” on the back. Alongside him, his guest, the controversial right-wing YouTuber Candace Owens, was wearing the same shirt.

The stunt has sparked a storm of controversy but West shows no sign of backing down.

The ‘other side’

Despite the growing criticism, West has “doubled down on his decision to debut the offensive t-shirt”, said Rolling Stone, boasting about the attention his shirt received at Paris. “Nothing happened but my t-shirt,” he wrote. “Remember my one t-shirt took allllll the attention.”

He has also described Black Lives Matter as a scam. “Everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam now it’s over you’re welcome,” he wrote on Instagram, according to NME. A source said West “wants to give a voice to the ‘other side’”, of the race debate in the US, Page Six reported. “He doesn’t understand why people aren’t seeing that.”

‘Attention-seeking antics’

Many people are not seeing the episode the same way as Kanye West, said The New York Times. The Anti-Defamation League has deemed the phrase “White Lives Matter” – which was coined as a retort to the Black Lives Matter movement – “hate speech and attributed [it] to white supremacists (including the Ku Klux Klan)”, said the paper.

“Be clear,” wrote Mitchell S. Jackson for Esquire, “white lives matter, like Blue Lives Matter, is a motto meant to negate the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, to imperil the humanity of Black people writ large.”

West’s “attention-seeking antics are as exhausting as they are frustrating”, said Scott Woods for Columbus Monthly. He dismissed the stunt as “damage for damage’s sake”, and a moment that “only serves those who worship at the altar of attention”.

Jaden Smith, a front-row guest at the fashion show in Paris, left as soon as he spotted the shirts and Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, global fashion editor-at-large at Vogue, described the stunt as “hugely irresponsible”.

A fellow rapper has also come out against the shirts. “I’ve always been there, and I will always support my brother Kanye as a freethinker,” said Sean “Diddy” Combs in a video on Instagram. “But the ‘white lives matter’ t-shirt, I don’t rock with it, you know what I’m saying? I’m not with it.”

Fashion magazine pointed the finger elsewhere. “It is the corporations who back his fashion ventures, the consumers who buy his wares and the media who keep shining a spotlight on him” who are also to blame, it argued.

However, West has rejected criticism, telling Fox News that his critics are a “group mob” of “liberal Nazis that will go up and attack you”.

He also claimed that he had been warned that “anybody wearing a ‘white lives matter’ shirt is going to be green-lit”, meaning “they are going to beat them up if I wear it”.

After Kanye West was removed from the Grammys lineup, his Coachella performance is off, too.

The Donda rapper has pulled out of the music festival where he was previously scheduled to headline on April 17 and April 24, Variety and TMZ report.

No reason was given for West's cancellation, but the rapper has been generating headlines in recent weeks for repeated conflict with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian's current boyfriend, Pete Davidson. Last week, a report from Page Six claimed West told Kardashian "he's going away to get help," per a source close to the Kardashians.

West's performance was previously pulled from the Grammys lineup due to his "concerning online behavior," though he was not banned from attending entirely. Still, West was not present at Sunday's awards show, where he won two Grammys. Instagram temporarily banned West after he attacked Grammys host Trevor Noah with a racial slur, and his social media activity has since quieted down.

In February, West threatened to pull out of Coachella unless Billie Eilish, who's also headlining, apologized for comments she made at a concert. After stopping to help a fan, Eilish said, "I wait for people to be okay until I keep going," a remark some interpreted as being a dig at Travis Scott, who was performing at the Astroworld Music Festival when 10 people were killed in a crowd surge. Eilish declined to apologize, telling West she "literally never said a thing about Travis."

It wasn't clear whether West was making good on his earlier threat by canceling his Coachella performance or whether this related to Page Six's report that he now plans on "not making any public appearances or inflammatory social media statements, and he will go away somewhere to get better." Scott was planning to join West on stage at Coachella, TMZ reports, but will now no longer attend.

The View co-host Sunny Hostin says she's not a Kanye West "apologist," but she's still "uncomfortable" with not letting him perform at the Grammys.

On Monday, The View discussed the Grammys' decision to drop West from the performance line-up due to his "concerning online behavior." In recent weeks, the rapper has been attacking his ex-wife Kim Kardashian's boyfriend, Pete Davidson, and he was temporarily suspended from Instagram for hurling a racial slur at Grammys host Trevor Noah.

But Hostin said she's "very uncomfortable" with the Grammys' dropping West's performance.

"Performance is an art, and it's speech in many instances," she said. "Where do we draw the line? I believe in consequence culture, I don't believe in cancel culture, and I feel that he is, because of the stigma of mental health, I think he is being stigmatized."

Hostin noted West has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and she argued he's not "this violent person that should be shunned from society and his art taken away from him." She added, "We have something called the First Amendment in this country. We have freedom of speech. We have freedom of expression, and we're canceling Kanye West for something he may do."

The other panelists disagreed, with Ana Navarro shooting back that West is "not entitled to put people's lives in danger." Navarro expressed support for West being suspended from social media for "inciting violence" and posting "horrible racial slurs," asking, "Do we all need to put up with this?" Co-host Sara Haines also questioned why West will seemingly still be allowed to give a speech if he wins a Grammy.

West's attack on Noah came after the Daily Show host raised concerns about the rapper's "terrifying" behavior. After the Grammys dropped West's performance, though, Noah tweeted, "I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye."

Kanye West has been dropped from the performance lineup for the upcoming Grammy Awards due to his "concerning online behavior," the Yeezus rapper's rep told Variety.

Variety speculated that, if allowed to perform, West "might use the stage to continue his online harassment of Pete Davidson, his estranged wife Kim Kardashian's new boyfriend." Earlier this month, West released a claymation video for his song "Eazy," which depicts him kidnapping Davidson, burying him, and holding his severed head.

Kardashian, who dropped the last name "West" after a court declared her legally single, has previously warned West that his handling of the divorce is "creating a dangerous and scary environment," The Guardian reported.

The Grammys are set to air on April 3. West has been nominated for Album of the Year (for his own DONDA and separately for his production work on Lil Nas X's Montero), Best Rap Album (DONDA), Best Rap Song ("Jail"), and Best Melodic Rap Performance ("Hurricane").

This news hits just as Kanye comes off of a 24-hour suspension from Instagram earlier this week. The Meta-owned app put Kanye's account in time-out after he directed a racial slur at Daily Show host Trevor Noah, who said Ye's behavior toward his estranged wife "shines a spotlight on what so many women go through when they choose to leave."

Noah wrote that the slur — which has a meaning similar to "Uncle Tom" and which Kanye hurled at him in the form of re-written song lyrics — was "funny as s--t" but that Black people should not "strip each other of our blackness whenever we disagree."

Noah also wrote, "I see you on a path that's dangerously close to peril and pain ... I've woken up too many times and read headlines about men who've killed their exes, their kids, and then themselves. I never want to read that headline about you."

Guess who's going to Instagram jail?

Kanye West has been suspended from Instagram for 24 hours for violating the platform's policies against hate speech, bullying, and harassment, a spokesperson told CNN. The move came after West attacked The Daily Show host Trevor Noah in a post, hurling a racial slur at him.

The rapper was responding to a Daily Show segment in which Noah raised serious concerns about West's recent behavior, which has included repeated attacks on his ex-wife's current boyfriend, Pete Davidson. In one instance, West posted a claymation video that depicted himself kidnapping and burying Davidson. Noah expressed concern the situation could escalate, drawing on his own experience growing up in an abusive household and noting his mom was shot in the head by his stepfather.

"What [Kardashian is] going through is terrifying to watch, and it shines a spotlight on what so many women go through when they choose to leave," Noah said. "...What we're seeing is one of the most powerful, one of the richest women in the world, unable to get her ex to stop texting her, to stop chasing after her, to stop harassing her."

In addition to attacking Noah on Wednesday, West also claimed he was concerned Davidson would get Kardashian "hooked on drugs."

After West went after Noah with a racial slur, Noah issued a thoughtful response Wednesday, writing that the rapper's music has had a major impact on him but that "it breaks my heart to see you like this."

"I don't care if you support Trump and I don't care if you roast Pete," Noah said. "I do however care when I see you on a path that's dangerously close to peril and pain. You have every right to fight for your family. But you have to know the difference between that and fighting your family."

Instagram says it could take further action against West if needed.

Kanye West is a poet and he didn't even know it — and according to his "latest creation," he's also dead.

The rapper on Tuesday shared a strange poem on Instagram titled "Dead," which is about how "no one wanted to tell me I was DEAD." West writes in the poem, "They ran through my account like the sign said free bread. But no one wanted to tell me I was DEAD. My kids would dance for me in a home I once led. But kids see ghosts and didn't know I was DEAD."

The poem concludes with West suggesting he was murdered in this scenario. "I found out one day at the newsstand in [purgatory] there was a front page article of my murderers story," he writes.

In the Instagram caption, West described this poem as his "latest creation," and he said that he "will not explain this new piece for the explanation destroys the mystery and magic" of it. West previously posted another poem titled "Divorce," in which he writes that "divorce feels like full blown COVID." Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from West in early 2021, and last week, she was declared legally single.

In recent weeks, West has sparked concern and criticism for his attacks on Pete Davidson, the Saturday Night Live star who's dating Kardashian, and he recently shared a disturbing claymation video that depicted himself kidnapping and burying Davidson. After sparking backlash, West defended the video as "art," writing, "Art is not a proxy for any ill or harm. Any suggestion otherwise about my art is false and mal intended." While sharing his "Dead" poem, West also said that he feels "already compromised that I have to justify my expression after over 20 years of art that I've contributed to the planet."

It's official: Kim Kardashian West is back to just being Kim Kardashian.

During a court hearing on Wednesday, a judge granted Kardashian's request to be declared legally single over a year after she filed for divorce from Kanye West, TMZ reports. West's attorney reportedly did not object to this request, which means West will be officially dropped from Kardashian's last name.

Kardashian filed for divorce from West in February 2021 after almost seven years of marriage, and in December, she filed to be declared legally single. In a filing last week, she said "I very much desire to be divorced," adding that the "court terminating our marital status will help Kanye to accept that our marital relationship is over and to move forward on a better path which will assist us in peacefully co-parenting our children." They have four children together.

Kardashian and West's divorce has gotten messy within the past few months, though, and the rapper has repeatedly publicly attacked her current boyfriend, Pete Davidson. In February, Kardashian slammed West for his "obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation," and she recently said in a filing that her estranged husband "has been putting a lot of misinformation regarding our private family matters and co-parenting on social media which has created emotional distress."

West claimed in court that Kardashian's allegations that he is spreading misinformation were "double hearsay" and that she needed to "show that the posts were written by Kanye," according to ET. This was despite the fact that during one Instagram posting spree, West held up a photo of himself with the day's date to prove he wasn't hacked.

Ahead of Wednesday's hearing, West reportedly fired his fourth divorce attorney.

On his latest album, Kanye West samples a clip of his estranged wife praising him amid their messy divorce — and Vice President Kamala Harris makes an appearance, too.

West on Tuesday night held a listening party in Miami for his new album Donda 2. The event streamed on YouTube, though the full album hasn't yet been officially released, and it will reportedly only be available on a $200 device. At the listening party, West's song "Sci-Fi" opened with a clip from Kardashian's October monologue on Saturday Night Live, in which she says she "married the best rapper of all time" and calls West "a talented, legit genius who gave me four incredible kids." He did not, however, include Kardashian's quip that "when I divorced him, you have to know it came down to just one thing: his personality."

Kardashian filed for divorce from West in 2021, but he has repeatedly asked her to take him back and is objecting to her divorce petition. West has also lashed out publicly at Kardashian's current boyfriend, Pete Davidson, and on one of the songs played at the listening party, he raps that he'll "beat Pete Davidson's a--." He also appeared to reference Davidson, who reportedly recently hired extra security, when he rapped, "Never stand between a man and his kids. Y'all ain't got enough security for this." Earlier this month, Kardashian slammed West for his "obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation" amid their divorce.

West's song "Louis Bags" featuring Jack Harlow also sampled someone a lot more unexpected: Kamala Harris, as audio of her exclaiming that "we did it, Joe!" after the 2020 election was played multiple times. West himself unsuccessfully ran for president in the 2020 election as an independent with the "Birthday Party." The rapper, who has supported former President Donald Trump, claimed in November that "we ain't seen [Harris] since the election."

Kanye West is getting ready to drop his latest album, but don't look for it on the major streaming platforms.

West announced on Instagram his upcoming album Donda 2, which is expected to be released on Feb. 22, won't be available to stream on Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, or YouTube. Instead, he said the album will "only be available on my own platform," the Stem Player — appearing to suggest fans will have to buy this device that costs $200.

This, the rapper said, is because of the way artists are compensated by streaming services.

"Today artists get just 12 percent of the money the industry makes," West wrote. "It's time to free music from this oppressive system. It's time to take control and build our own."

West's upcoming album is a follow-up to Donda, which was released in August 2021. The album had nearly 100 million global streams on Spotify in its first day of release, "the second biggest album debut of all-time," according to Chart Data. It also had 60 million first-day streams on Apple Music, Billboard reported.

West's boycott comes after Taylor Swift pulled her music from Spotify for three years beginning in 2014, taking issue with the way artists are paid. "I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music," she told Yahoo at the time. West also previously released his 2016 album The Life of Pablo as a Tidal exclusive, though it later came to other platforms.

But West's Donda 2 announcement quickly drew pushback from his fans, even as some speculated he might mean the album will be available on the Stem Player website without the $200 device. But if not, one fan on Reddit wrote, "There's not a f---ing chance in hell I'm paying $200 to listen to one of his albums."

It only took a few moments for me to understand the warning I received before watching the premiere of the new Netflix docuseries, Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy: It will remind you of what made you love Kanye West.

The footage — and I don't say this lightly — is as incredible as touted. As explained in the film and the press coverage building to the show's debut, Coodie Simmons, a filmmaker and fellow Chicago native, met a teenage West at a barbershop in 1995. He was intrigued by West's talent and charismatic persona and decided to film a documentary he hoped would be released after West won a Grammy. The plan didn't go exactly as expected, but Simmons managed to accumulate hundreds of hours of footage spanning two decades of West's journey from young hungry artist to legendary rapper, designer, and budding mogul.

The end result is the three-part documentary Simmons made with his creative partner, Chike Ozah. It's not the standard documentary chronicling an artist. There are no other artists who have collaborated with West to comment on what happened, no talking heads to fill in the gaps. Instead, it's mostly raw footage that, step by step, tells us everything we need to know — and save for a few explanatory lines from Simmons, the story is told by West himself.

And what a story it is. If you've followed his journey, it's hard not to be wowed by the sight of an incredibly young West in braces. It's even more difficult not to be moved by the footage of West with his mother, Donda West. She died in 2007, and in addition to once serving on the faculty of the English department at Chicago State University, served as West's manager before she passed while undergoing a cosmetic procedure. In Simmons' footage, there's a contagious joy in West's face at the mere presence of his mother.

But there's also reason to smile as you reminisce with footage of West in the studio with Black Star or Consequence, or shots of him joining Jay-Z on stage to perform, "Izzo (Hova)," the West-produced lead single from the rapper's beloved album The Blueprint. Or to laugh at some of West's self-deprecating humor — like realizing that perhaps it's best to take the retainer out while talking on TV. Or to cheer while hearing West speak in his own words about how difficult it was for people to take him seriously as a rapper. And to be frustrated for him as he records "All Falls Down" in his New York apartment in 2002, and as those who ought to have know better struggle to see West's vision. As Simmons says at one point, "The more time I spent with Kanye, the more I wanted him to win."

That's the feeling some of us have always had about Kanye West, and Jeen-Yuhs can reignite that feeling. That includes folks like me who have since been vocal in our criticisms of Kanye.

But Jeen-yuhs reminded me of why I'm critical, too. I could little hints of West's Black conservatism, and that in turn recalled other, more explicitly right-wing statements he's made over the years.

Like denying that Bill Cosby is innocent. Or the time at a concert when he declared, "I told y'all I didn't vote, right? But if I would've voted, I would've voted for [former President Donald] Trump."

And speaking of the company West keeps, remember when he reportedly gave his blessing to APC founder Jean Touitou, who chose to include the N-word in a fall menswear presentation? Or recall Vanessa Beecroft, a woman who has used blackface in her work and once declared it was "very stressful" to work with Black women but touted her relationship with West to dodge criticism.

It's harder to forget the time he wrapped himself in Confederate battle flag imagery, claiming, "It's my flag." Or his comment that "slavery was a choice."

None of that is featured in the documentary. But those of us looking for reasons to fall for Kanye West the artist while ignoring Kanye West the man can't escape for long: Towards the end of part one of Jeen-Yuhs, Simmons reveals his subject is gleefully viewing a clip of Fox News host Tucker Carlson praising a speech from West's (disastrous) 2020 presidential campaign.

In some ways, I find it impressive that West is the most popular Black conservative besides the fictitious character of Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Unfortunately, West's political views aren't the only thing that makes fandom fraught: Just days prior to the premiere of this documentary, he was reportedly harassing his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and her new boyfriend, Pete Davidson.

How culpable is he here? The subject of West's mental illness is covered in the final part of the documentary, and West goes into detail about his suicidal ideations, drug addiction, and hospital stays. This clearly takes a toll on his professional life, and it's hard to imagine it didn't shape his personal life, too.

"It was difficult watching Kanye on TV, knowing he had issues with his mental health," Simmons told the New York Post in a story published this month. "They were calling him crazy, but to me it seemed like he was crying out for help. In the past, Kanye might have rubbed folks the wrong way, but for the first time, it felt like he really lost the people."

Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy could help win many of those people back and reset the tone for West's career. Sadly, the subject himself seems disinterested in pursuing that cause. Recent antics suggest he refuses to get help for his problems. And while one might be reminded why Kanye West became so celebrated, the fact remains that mental illness is not an excuse to be hateful and harmful — not even when you become the famous genius you've always professed yourself to be, with the footage to prove it.

Kim Kardashian is speaking out against her estranged husband Kanye West.

In a statement on Instagram Friday, Kardashian criticized West for his "obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation" amid their ongoing divorce. The post was prompted by West slamming her for letting their 8-year-old daughter North West make videos on TikTok via the joint account @kimandnorth. "SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST DIVORCE I NEED TO KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO ABOUT MY DAUGHTER BEING PUT ON TIK TOK AGAINST MY WILL," West wrote.

"Kanye's constant attacks on me in interviews and on social media is actually more hurtful than any TikTok North might create," Kardashian responded. "As the parent who is the main provider and caregiver for our children, I am doing my best to protect our daughter while also allowing her to express her creativity in the medium that she wishes with adult supervision — because it brings her happiness."

Kardashian filed for divorce from West, with whom she shares four children, in February 2021. The divorce has not yet been finalized, and in December, Kardashian filed to be declared legally single and to drop West from her last name. In recent months, West has publicly pleaded with Kardashian to take him back. In November, West said Kardashian is "still my wife" because "I ain't never even seen the papers, we're not even divorced." He also claimed last month that Kardashian didn't invite him to their daughter Chicago's birthday party, though he was later seen attending the party.

In her Instagram statement, Kardashian wrote that it "saddens me" that West "continues to make it impossible" to have a "healthy and supportive co-parenting relationship," adding she hopes he can "finally respond to the third attorney he has had in the last year to resolve any issues amicably."

Kanye West has reportedly been intentionally following his estranged wife Kim Kardashian around.

Page Six says West has been "deliberately showing up" places Kardashian might be even though he's now dating Uncut Gems actress Julia Fox.

This reportedly includes New Year's Eve in Miami, where Kardashian's current boyfriend, Pete Davidson, was hosting a show with Miley Cyrus. West traveled to Miami because he thought Kardashian would be there, "so Kim stayed home in California with the kids," Page Six says. The report also reveals Kardashian was planning to go on vacation with Davidson in the Dominican Republic early this month, but West "got wind of it and was talking about showing up there too," so she "secretly changed the destination to the Bahamas."

West recently bought a house across the street from Kardashian, with whom he shares four children, and a source told Page Six that Kardashian was "none too happy" about this. According to TMZ, the Donda rapper paid over $400,000 more than the asking price.

Kardashian filed for divorce from West in February 2021, and she's been dating Davidson since the fall. West has publicly expressed his desire to get back together with Kardashian, singing at a concert that he wants her to "run right back to me." But West has recently been dating Julia Fox after meeting the actress on New Year's Eve in Miami, and she wrote about their relationship in Interview magazine. "Everything with us has been so organic," she said. "I don't know where things are headed but if this is any indication of the future I'm loving the ride." Page Six cites a source as saying the relationship is a "ploy to get under ex Kim Kardashian's skin."

Kanye West seems to have decided that, as he sang on his 2021 album DONDA, "single life ain't so bad."

Page Six reported Monday that the 44-year-old Grammy-winning rapper has made things official with actress Julia Fox.

After their first dinner date in Miami on Saturday night, Fox told a paparazzo she wasn't sure there would be a second date, but the two had dinner again Sunday night. Clearly the second date went well.

Fox — a 31-year-old socialite, artist, clothing designer, and former dominatrix and Playboy model — made her acting debut as the mistress of Adam Sandler's sleazy jewel peddler in the 2019 film Uncut Gems.

She also hosts the subscribers-only podcast Forbidden Fruits. In the first episode, she and co-host Niki Takesh interview an NYPD police officer who was also a former client of Fox in her dominatrix days. According to AV Club, the episode ends with the two hosts choking and whipping the man (consensually, of course) while ordering him to say "Black Lives Matter."

Fox married pilot Peter Artemiev in 2018, and in February 2021, Fox gave birth to their son, Valentino. Both she and West are separated from their respective spouses but still legally married. Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from West in February 2021.

"We're not even divorced … My kids want they parents to stay together. I want us to be together," West said of Kardashian in November.

Last month, West purchased a $4.5 million house across the street from Kardashian to have easier access to their four kids. According to The New York Post, West — who legally changed his name to "Ye" in October — plans to level the 3,600-square-foot home and build a much larger one in its place.

Michael Cohen has once again been spotted hanging out with Kanye West, and it seems like the rapper could be getting a little carried away with the Halloween spirit.

Cohen, the former attorney for former President Donald Trump, on Tuesday was seen grabbing coffee with West on the Upper East Side of New York City, and photos showed West wearing a bizarre prosthetic mask during their meeting, Page Six reported. The two were previously spotted getting together earlier this month.

Cohen pleaded guilty to tax fraud, campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress, and he's currently under house arrest after he was released from prison early last year. He told Page Six that he's permitted to leave his house during certain hours, including on Tuesday mornings. Cohen didn't elaborate on what he and the Donda rapper were discussing Tuesday, saying "we were just getting together," though PR executive Ronn Torossian told Page Six they met to talk about real estate.

As far as that strange mask goes, Cohen told Page Six that West was wearing it "so that people would not recognize him," though the former Trump attorney noted this "did not really work." It might not have helped that West, who has now legally changed his name to Ye, was already spotted wearing this same mask the day before. On Tuesday, TMZ also reported that West was seen walking around the city in this mask, describing it as "super light-skinned" while noting he was "even wearing something around his neck to keep the same skin tone from his head to chest." TMZ added, "No one really knows what the hell he's up to with these masks."

When Page Six raised the idea to Cohen that perhaps he, too, could try out this technique of wearing weird prosthetic masks for privacy reasons, Cohen responded, "I've seen your face — maybe you need a mask."

Kanye West's new album is finally out — much, apparently, to his chagrin.

The rapper's 10th studio album, Donda, was released on Sunday following multiple delays and three listening parties. But hours after it dropped, West surprisingly took to Instagram to claim he didn't give approval for it to be released.

"Universal put my album out without my approval," West claimed, referring to Universal Music Group. He also claimed "they blocked" one of the songs "from being on the album." That song, "Jail pt 2," wasn't initially available on Donda when it was released, but it has since been added, according to Variety.

West provided no other information about his claim that the album was released without approval, but Variety cited sources at Universal as calling this assertion "preposterous."

Donda was previously expected to be released in July, but the album's debut was postponed multiple times as West continued to hold listening parties for it. The most recent listening party occurred on Thursday in Chicago, and West drew criticism after he was joined by Marilyn Manson, who has been accused of sexual abuse, and DaBaby, who has been under fire for homophobic comments. Despite these controversies, Manson and DaBaby are both featured on the song "Jail pt 2."

For his latest listening party, Kanye West decided to bring out not one, but two hugely controversial guests.

West on Thursday night held a third listening party for his upcoming album Donda at Soldier Field in Chicago, and at one point, he was joined by a number of guests including Marilyn Manson and DaBaby, Deadline reports.

Both Manson and DaBaby have been engulfed in scandal in recent months. Manson has been accused of sexual abuse by a number of women, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department opened an investigation into the rocker in February. Four accusers have also filed lawsuits against Manson, including actress Esmé Bianco, who has accused him of rape and sexual battery. In July, he turned himself into police on assault charges.

Meanwhile, DaBaby has been under fire for making homophobic comments. At a festival in July, he told fans to shine the flashlights on their phones if they "didn't show up today with HIV/AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that will make you die in two to three weeks," per The Hollywood Reporter. He addressed the scandal at the listening party, rapping, "I said one thing they ain't like and … they threw me out like garbage," per NME.

West's listening party also included another big surprise: his ex-wife Kim Kardashian showing up wearing a wedding dress, TMZ reports — though according to TMZ, they aren't back together. Even though this was the third listening party West has held for Donda, the album has still not been released.

West drew criticism for his decision to include Manson and DaBaby at the listening party, which Consequence described as "some sort of s----y commentary on 'cancel culture.'" The Undefeated writer David Dennis Jr. also wrote that the photo of West, Manson, and DaBaby together was worth "a thousand words. And all of them are trash."

Farewell, Kanye West. The name "Kanye West," at least.

The rapper has filed documents in Los Angeles to legally change his name from Kanye West to Ye, the nickname he has gone by in recent years, TMZ reports. The documents cite "personal reasons," per BBC News.

West used Ye as the title of his eighth studio album, and in 2018, he declared himself on Twitter to be "the being formally known as Kanye West," adding, "I am YE."

"I believe 'ye' is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means 'you,' West previously said. "So I'm you, I'm us, it's us. It went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye — just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything."

West's request needs to be approved by a judge, but TMZ writes that the sign-off is expected. The news comes amid the wait for the rapper's latest studio album, Donda, which still hasn't been released despite West having already held two listening parties that were expected to be followed by its debut. A third listening party is set to take place on Thursday in Chicago. Could it be his final time going out before an audience under the legal name of Kanye West?