Kanye Controversy – Can he come back from this?

On 7 February, Kanye West (Ye) took to Twitter/X to post a barrage of tweets, making offensive comments about the Jewish community and saying he has “dominion” over his wife. Many of the tweets were reminiscent of those that caused his previous ban on X. He expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler, called himself a Nazi, praised Diddy, and took out a Super Bowl ad pointing to an online store selling swastika t-shirts. The series of tweets ended in Ye deactivating his account.

Previously, Ye’s account was suspended in December 2022 after he made antisemitic comments and praised Hitler. Elon Musk, the owner of X, said the suspension was “for incitement to violence.” The account was unsuspended by July 2023. Additionally, in October 2022, Ye’s account had been restricted for previous antisemitic comments, but he returned to the platform the following month. In that case, his antisemitic remarks led to Adidas cutting ties with the rapper. The most recent tirade also did not go without consequences. Ty Dolla $ign, an artist Ye had collaborated with, released a statement this week condemning antisemitism and removed all mentions of Ye on his Instagram.

Enter the notion of separating the art from the artist

Additionally, his talent agency, 33&West, announced this week that they would be severing ties with the musician, while Shopify, the platform that hosted the Yeezy website, shut down the site, with Ye violating its terms of service. The Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt criticised Ye’s tirade: “Here we go again. Another egregious display of antisemitism, racism and misogyny from Ye on his X account this morning […] We condemn this dangerous behaviour and need to call it what it is: a flagrant and unequivocal display of hate.”

Enter the notion of separating the art from the artist. Would it be possible to continue listening to his music and ignore the person who created it? Some say that they will continue to do so, especially for the music that came out before the tweets, as it is not the artist they appreciate but the work itself. Yet, the reason it is okay for most art to be separated from the artists is because these artists do not shout from the rooftops that they have hurt people, raped people, or have morally questionable views. West, on the other hand, pushes his harmful views to his millions of followers. His actions are only contributing to the normalisation of such far-right, extremist views, which is a dangerous, slippery slope.

While Ye’s reputation has undoubtedly taken a hit due to his posting spree, there should be an acknowledgement that his antisocial behaviour is a part of something much larger

Even though it’s likely that Ye’s tweets can be attributed to his history of mental health issues, including a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2018 (which he has now refuted with a new autism diagnosis), the rise in far-right and extremist discourse cannot be ignored. From Musk performing an actual Nazi salute on live television after Donald Trump’s recent inauguration, facing minimal consequences, to Mark Zuckerberg adding UFC CEO, Trump loyalist, and staunch anti-woke crusader Dana White to Facebook’s board, the future is looking dark. Bigotry is going unpunished, and the frightening realignment to far-right culture is looking like one that won’t easily or quickly be reversed.

While Ye’s reputation has undoubtedly taken a hit due to his posting spree, there should be an acknowledgement that his antisocial behaviour is a part of something much larger. I do think Ye can come back from this, and he will. By “never come back from this”, I don’t mean commercially or artistically. I do think he reached his peak with commercial success, but right now, I mean “come back” as a human being. His entire worldview is poisoned by hate, and it is unfortunate because he is undoubtedly very talented, but his talent is now being marred by his struggles with his mental health and controversial and harmful takes that he is confidently spreading into the world.