Rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, sparked a flurry of controversy at a fashion show last week and then on social media, sparking accusations of racism and anti-Semitism.
On Monday, at Paris Fashion Week, he debuted a t-shirt from his fashion line, emblazoned with the phrase “White Lives Matter.” On Friday, he suggested on Instagram that rapper Sean Combs, better known as Diddy, is controlled by Jews, a day Ye’s account was restricted by his Instagram.
Early Sunday morning, he took to Twitter and lashed out at Jews in a series of tweets.
Ye tweeted that he will be going to “Death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” soon. This is a clear reference to the US state of defense readiness known as Def.Cons
“You guys tried to toy with me and blackball anyone who disagrees with your agenda,” he wrote.
and another tweetYe accused Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Instagram owner Meta, of removing him from Instagram.
“Who do you think created the cancellation culture?” he added in another tweet.
A Twitter spokesperson said in a statement that Ye’s account was locked for violating Twitter’s policies. A spokeswoman for Meta said it imposes restrictions on accounts that repeatedly violate its rules.
A Ye representative was not immediately reachable.
Due to Twitter and Instagram restrictions, Ye’s account is still active, but the rapper can’t post during the undisclosed period.
Ye returned to Twitter on Saturday after not posting for nearly two years.
These posts further tested whether social media companies were willing to monitor content deemed hateful.
The T-shirt design and social media posts were widely condemned by celebrities and Jewish groups, who said they reflected racist and anti-Semitic ideas.
The Anti-Defamation League called “White Lives Matter” is a hateful term used by white supremacists.
At first, Ye seemed to enjoy the t-shirt controversy, writing on Instagram, “My one t-shirt got all the attention.”
However, outrage continued to mount online from several artists, including Mr. Combs. A video on Instagram criticized the design.
“Don’t wear shirts. Don’t buy shirts. Don’t play with shirts,” Combs said. “I’m not kidding.”
on thursday adidas said We plan to mark our partnership with Yeezy as ‘under consideration’. (Ye ended its partnership with Gap last month.)
Ye posted screenshots of a text message exchange with Mr. Combs on his Instagram account on Friday, suggesting that Mr. Combs is controlled by Jews. The comments were called anti-Semitic by some Jewish groups.
“Unfortunately, we have seen these kinds of tropes and conspiracy theories on the rise across the country, where the rise of anti-Semitic rhetoric is directly related to the rise of anti-Semitic violence. So this is all the more troubling,” the chief executive of the Jewish Federation of North America said in a statement.
The Instagram post has been deleted by the company.
Shortly after, Ye returned to Twitter and posted a photo with Zuckerberg. “How did you kick me off Instagram,” he wrote.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to the tweet after suggesting it could relax its content moderation policies after buying the social media company for $44 billion.
“Welcome to Twitter, my friend!” Musk wrote.