From interrupting Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards to publicly admiring Adolf Hitler, Kanye “Ye” West is no stranger to controversy.
On Feb. 6, West went on an X tirade, targeting specific groups, such as Jews and Black people. He stated, “Hitler was sooooo fresh,” and “SLAVERY IS A CHOICE,” among other nonsense; West made over 60 posts during his rant.
While one may wonder what sort of maniac would attack his own people, West is clearly addicted to the attention he gets from controversy. He has a new album coming out, and this is not the first time West has used controversy to have eyes on him. In 2016, he started a feud with Swift over a lyric in his song “Famous.”
Now, West is scraping the bottom of the barrel to garner attention, going for shock value and saying whatever rubbish he can think of to trigger the public.
One might think West could not get any worse, but he stooped as low as selling T-shirts with swastikas during his episode.
It is understandably difficult to come to terms with the fact that the man who produced the critically acclaimed “Graduation” is an awful person. This spawned a series of ironic posts on Twitter, with people saying, “But he made graduation” — portraying the polarizing nature of who West really is. Unfortunately, bad people are capable of making good art.
People have tried to justify his inappropriate behavior by claiming he changed since his mother died in 2007 and that he is just a boy who misses his mother. However, this only serves to infantilize West, absolving him from taking accountability and further enabling his disgusting actions. West is a grown man. He needs to act like one.
Many celebrities, such as David Schwimmer, called on Elon Musk to remove West from X. Finally, West deleted his X account on Feb. 9, thanking Musk for allowing him to vent.
This not only reflects West’s values but shows how little Musk cares about someone as popular as West spreading hate speech on his platform. Of course, one can expect nothing less from Musk, who did a Nazi salute at the president’s inauguration.
As Schwimmer stated, “We can’t stop a deranged bigot from spewing hate-filled, ignorant bile, but we CAN stop giving him a megaphone.”
West is a deeply disturbed, mentally unstable man. He made great music, but his legacy will forever be stained by his erratic behavior. “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
English
Spanish