“Dear Kanye, where does it stop?” The question screams on top of all the countless thoughts that bombard my brain cells, making sure it is heard. Now one thing is certain, being Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) is indeed not easy. How shall one find himself amidst a thousand controversies within days is beyond imaginable to me.
Ye has been under the public radar for a couple of days now, though this is not the first time the rapper has been under public scrutiny for making controversial statements. One of his most famous controversies stems from back in 2009 when he disrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Video of the Year at the 2009 MTV VMAs. He also has been previously suspended from Instagram for 24 hours after using a racial slur in reference to comedian Trevor Noah.
“‘THEEYY’ don’t want undeniable beautiful Black women to be put on their rightful throne,” West, 45, wrote via Instagram on Thursday, October 6. “They want corny ass Gigi Hadid and nose job Hailey Baldloose [Bieber] to rally behind an obvious Corey Gamble level non-fashion industry plant.”
This resulted in a widespread backlash against Ye (rightfully so) and it is circulating in the news that this has strained the relationship between Justin Bieber and Ye.
Faux Pas at Paris Fashion Week: Ye made sure he made his presence felt at this year’s Paris Fashion Week 2022. He unveiled his Yeezy season 9 collection during PWF 2022. In a ‘secret’ fashion show, of which invites were sent digitally just a night before, Ye exhibited his label and wore an oversize shirt with a photo of Pope John Paul II and the words “Seguiremos tu ejemplo” [“We will follow your example”] on the front, and “White Lives Matter” on the back — a phrase that the Anti-Defamation League has called hate speech and attributed to white supremacists (including the Ku Klux Klan), who began using it in 2015 in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
According to New York Times, John Galliano. Demna, the Balenciaga designer, and Cédric Charbit, its chief executive, Alexandre Arnault, the chief marketing officer of Tiffany & Company and a son of the LVMH chieftain Bernard Arnault were in attendance.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1578620714000605184?t=ko77joiw4HHtqQ1GBjfOsQ&s=08
The final nail in the coffin was when Ye tweeted, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” (Death Con 3 appears to be a reference to the US military status DEFCON 3.)
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 3, 2022Seeing this act, Jaden Smith, Lynette Nylander (editor and writer of Dazed) walked out. The Vogue editor commented on Instagram saying “Indefensible behavior…there is no excuse, there is no art here.” Ye suspended from Instagram and Twitter following his anti-Semitic posts Ye didn’t stop here. The rapper managed to get his Instagram account suspended after accusing rapper Diddy of being controlled by Jewish people. His posts were removed and his account was suspended in line to his comments being anti-Semitic. For Ye this wasn’t a signal to stop! He returned to Twitter after two years and tweeted a picture of him with Mark Zuckerberg “How you gone kick me off Instagram?”
Now, how must one react to such a series of events? Where do we draw the line between freedom of free speech and the civil manner of leading a conversation without hurting the sentiments of the masses? Truth be told, it is a blurry line that is often crossed without even realizing it and Ye does it more often than anyone. So, is the world a better place if we stop people like Ye from expressing their opinions? Can, we ever get rid of biases that are ingrained in the hearts and minds of people, and is the best way of stopping them is to shun their opinions or not to respond to them?
What are your thoughts on Kanye’s actions?
