Content warning: antisemitism and mention of the Holocaust
American rapper, Ye West (formerly Kanye) has caused a stir after a number of scandals.
He was seen at Paris Fashion Week with conservative commentator, Candace Owens. They both wore ‘White Lives Matter’ shirts.
Twitter deletes tweet for antisemitism
On Thursday, Twitter deleted one of West’s tweets. His tweet is condemned for antisemitism. West has hit back, claiming he can’t be antisemitic because he’s black.
Candace Owens also defended him on her show. She claimed:
[shows deleted tweet] That was the tweet and people subsequently demanded that the Tweet be taken down for antisemitism. Now, if you are an honest person you did not think this tweet was antisemitic. You did not think that he wrote this tweet because he hates or wants to genocide Jewish people. This is not represent the beginning of the Holocaust.
Candace Owens, Candace Owens Podcast,
Instagram also reacted, restricting West’s account.
In the aftermath, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson gave a relatively soft interview toward West. From the start, he strongly defended West, castong doubt of the antisemitism claims. He also defended the display of the ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt.
Is bipolar disorder to blame?
Ok, let me say this from the outset. Mental illness is never an excuse for being abusive, bigoted, etc. Having said that, a number of commentators, including Ana Kasparian fron The Young Turks and Kyle Kulinski from Secular Talk have pointed out West’s bipolar disorder as an explanation to his recent behaviour.
However, London – based forensic psychiatrist, Sohom Das disagrees. While he acknowledged West’s bipolar diagnosis, Das said that his recent behaviour isn’t usually indicative of grandiosity in mania.
According to Verywell Mind, grandiosity (or grandiose ideation) in bipolar is an exaggerated sense of self – importance. In contrast, delusions of grandeur are delusions of superiority with no evidence to back it up.
Latest update: There’s a backlash against Ye West. According Billboard YouTube channel, LeBron James pulled an entire episode of The Shop which featured West. He cited ‘hate speech’ to defend the axing of the episode.
On Tuesday, Missouri Attorney General, Republican, Eric Schmitt caused controversy for posting a tweet supporting West after he wrote the antisemitic tweet.
America needs a @kanyewest @KidRock tour
After an uproar, Schmitt deleted the tweet from his personal account. In his defence, Schmitt said that he liked both Kid Rock and West’s music. However, he was quick to point out that he didn’t always agree with their views.
This comes less than a month before the US Midterm elections.
So, what’s up with Ye West? In my opinion, West is an attention seeker. I also think that he’s got away with so much over the years (i.e. the 2009 VMAs, pretending to kill Pete Davidson in a video, etc). I think he’s pushing the envelope, to see how far he can go.
Luckily, people are waking up. I really think he needs less ‘yes’ men and more accountability.