Kanye West news – Biden says ‘silence is complicity’ as Elon Musk suspends rapper for posting swastika

As it happened - Kanye West’s shocking antisemitic tirade and comments on Adolf Hitler

Kanye West releases 2024 campaign video after meeting with Trump

President Joe Biden and prominent US officials have condemned recent remarks from the rapper formerly known as Kanye West after his latest antisemitic tirade, Holocaust denialism and praise for Adolf Hitler and Nazis.

“Instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides,” the president shared on the office’s Twitter account. “Silence is complicity.”

Elon Musk suspended the rapper from the platform after Ye shared an image of a swastika within the Star of David. He shared the offensive image on Thursday night just hours after he professed “I like Hitler” and “I am a Nazi” while joining far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on on his InfoWars programme.

“I tried my best,” Mr Musk said. “Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.”

He also wrote “FAFO” – short for “F*** Around and Find Out.”

Key Points

• ‘I like Hitler’: Kanye West praises Nazi during Alex Jones interview
• Kanye West suspended from Twitter after posting swastika inside Star of David
• Hate speech is rising on Elon Musk’s Twitter, report finds
• Joe Biden says ‘silence’ against antisemitism 'is complicity’
• Who is Nick Fuentes?

[2 December 2022 13:15 · Rachel Sharp]

Zack Fox fans resurface comedian’s 2018 tweet about Kanye

A 2018 tweet from comedian Zack Fox has been making the rounds after Kanye West claimed he “likes Hitler”.

West’s comments have been widely denounced on social media, with figures such as Frozen star Josh Gad speaking out against the message.

Among the reaction, a screenshot of an old tweet from comedian Zack Fox has been recirculated on the platform.

In a tweet posted originally in September 2018, Fox said: “Highly recommend getting off the Kanye train before it inevitably reaches the ‘Hitler was a good guy’ stop.”

Fellow comedian Felonious Munk reposted Fox’s tweet on Thursday and added the caption: “My son told y’all.”

Zack Fox’s 2018 tweet about Kanye West liking Hitler (Twitter)

[2 December 2022 13:35 · Rachel Sharp]

Kanye West suspended from Twitter over swastika

Kanye West’s Twitter account has been suspended after he violated the platform’s policy against inciting violence by posting a design of a swastika inside the Star of David.

Twitter boss and tech-billionaire Elon Musk confirmed the suspension on Thursday (1 December), tweeting that he had “tried his best” to persuade the rapper not to share such posts.

On Thursday night, West shared the image of the Nazi symbol over the Star of David, a symbol of Judaism.

The Independent’s Ellie Harrison has the full story:

[2 December 2022 13:55 · Rachel Sharp]

Piers Morgan says Kanye West is ‘revelling in causing maximum offence'

Piers Morgan has said that, when he recently spoke to Kanye West, it was clear to him that the disgraced rapper was “revelling in causing maximum offence”.

“I had a lengthy text exchange with Kanye ‘Ye’ West the other day which indicated he’s now revelling in causing maximum offence,” he tweeted on Friday morning.

“He wasn’t just racist, and anti-Semitic, but horribly homophobic too - and his latest pro-Hitler rant is sadly more evidence he’s lost the plot.”

[2 December 2022 14:15 · Rachel Sharp]

Inside the long-term bromance between Kanye West and Elon Musk

One is an anti-Semitic superstar rapper running for president. The other is the richest man in the world who spends his days posting memes to the social media platform he purchased on a whim. And both have been friends for more than a decade.

Elon Musk and Kanye West don’t appear to have much in common at first glance, but the pair have a years-long relationship that may explain why the former is still backing the latter despite the rapper’s numerous anti-Semitic comments.

Mr Musk and Mr West first met in 2011, when the SpaceX owner gave the rapper a private tour of the company’s rocket factory.

“Kanye stopped by the SpaceX rocket factory today,” Musk tweeted at the time.

In 2020, Mr Musk recalled their friendship fondly, responding to a photo of the men together at the factory by calling it a “hell of a decade.”

The Independent’s Graig Graziosi delves into the bromance:

[2 December 2022 14:42 · Alex Woodward]

Breaking: Alex Jones declared bankruptcy

Alex Jones has filed for personal bankruptcy weeks after the conspiracy theorist and the company behind his InfoWars platform were ordered to pay roughly $1.5bn in damages for defaming the families of victims from the Sandy Hook school shooting massacre.

He filed for bankruptcy on 2 December in Texas where his InfoWars site already is under chapter 11 bankruptcy protections.

[2 December 2022 15:00 · Alex Woodward]

Kanye West is not buying social media platform Parler after all

Despite an October statement hailing a world-changing deal to purchase the right-wing social media app, Parler will not be selling the platform to Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.

The company announced that they reached a mutual termination agreement on 1 December, hours after the rapper and virulent antisemite praised Adolf Hitler and his love for Nazis on an InfoWars broadcast with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

They announced that the decision was made in mid-November.

[2 December 2022 15:30 · Alex Woodward]

Chief of Holocaust Educational Trust condemns West’s comments

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, has issued a statement condemning West’s remarks on yesterday’s InfoWars broadcast:

“Kanye West’s ‘I like Hitler’ comments and subsequent tweets are repulsive and sickening. These comments mixed with his high profile and huge following has dangerous consequences. It is blatant Jew hate and needs to be called out and stopped. Enough.”

[2 December 2022 16:02 · Alex Woodward]

Nick Fuentes claims Marjorie Taylor Greene texted Milo Yiannopoulos to connect with Kanye West

White nationalist Nick Fuentes, who is joining Kanye West’s apparent presidential campaign, has accused far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of seeking an audience with the antisemitic rapper. In a broadcast, Fuentes – who joined West during his appearance on InfoWars – lambasted the congresswoman, a far-right flamethrower in Congress who was voted out of her committees for her own offensive behaviour.

[2 December 2022 16:20 · Alex Woodward]

QAnon, white nationalists and soaring hate speech: Expects reveal how the floodgates have opened on Elon Musk’s Twitter

Extremism researchers and experts who have closely studied the spread of online hate and mis- and disinformation have warned that Elon Musk’s acquisition and the mass return of previously banned users could rapidly deteriorate the platform.

Under the disingenuous banner of “free speech”, Twitter could become one of the most toxic spaces on the internet for marginalised groups, they tell The Independent’s Alex Woodward:

[2 December 2022 16:42 · Alex Woodward]

Joe Biden: ‘Silence is complicity'

President Joe Biden appeared to condemn Ye and others who have given him a platform for his virulent antisemitism.

“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,” he shared in a Twitter post from the office’s official account on Friday.

“Silence is complicity,” he added.