Kanye West quits X as he ‘thanks’ Elon Musk amid fury to ‘racist’ and ‘antisemitic’ posts including ‘I am a Nazi’
Kanye West has deleted his X account following a weekend of controversial posts that included antisemitic remarks and attacks on Taylor Swift during the Super Bowl.
The 47-year-old rapper’s departure from the platform came after he thanked X owner Elon Musk for “allowing him to vent” in what he later claimed was a “social experiment”.
In his final message before deactivating his account, West wrote: “I’m logging out of Twitter. I appreciate Elon for allowing me to vent. It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board. It was like an Ayahuasca trip.”
The controversial posts included declarations of being a Nazi, praise for Hitler, and criticism of Swift’s appearance at the Super Bowl, where she was supporting her boyfriend Travis Kelce.
During the Super Bowl broadcast, West targeted Taylor Swift in a series of inflammatory posts on X.
“IF IT’S ABOUT THE CULTURE … WHY ARE WE LETTING TAYLOR SWIFT BE SEEN ON TV SINGING A SONG ABOUT TAKING A BLACK MAN DOWN AND ACCUSING OF THINGS THAT CAN TAKE A BLACK MAN DOWN FOR LIFE,” West wrote during the event.
The rapper then turned his attention to halftime performer Kendrick Lamar, posting: “KENDRICK IS BEING USED BY THESE WHITE PEOPLE AND JEWS AND SO AM I.”
Prior to these outbursts, West had bizarrely followed Swift’s account just before the Grammys and referenced one of her songs in a post about his wife Bianca Censori.
He also shared an unusual Super Bowl commercial for his Yeezy website, which featured him getting dental work whilst explaining he had spent all the advertising budget on new teeth.
Over the weekend, West posted a series of antisemitic messages, including “I love Hitler. Now what b****es” and “I’m a Nazi”.
The rapper later claimed his inflammatory posts were part of a “social experiment”, declaring victory in a lengthy statement.
“I won…I tweeted pretty much everything I felt like for 12 hours and I still have my Twitter. And most importantly my billions,” West wrote.
He also withdrew previous apologies for antisemitic comments, posting: “IM NEVER APOLOGIZING FOR MY JEWISH COMMENTS I CAN WHATEVER THE F*** I WANNA SAY FOREVER.”
West’s account received a “sensitive content warning” following the posts, which included praise for Hitler and claims about “normalising” conversations about the Nazi leader.
The rapper advertised a t-shirt featuring a Nazi swastika during the same period.
Friends star David Schwimmer called for action against West’s “hate-filled” posts on social media.
“This is so 2022. We can’t stop a deranged bigot from spewing hate filled, ignorant bile but we CAN stop giving him a megaphone, Mr. Musk,” Schwimmer wrote.
The actor highlighted West’s significant following on X, noting: “Kanye West has 32.7 million followers on your platform, X. That’s twice as many people than the number of Jews in existence.”
“His sick hate speech results in REAL LIFE violence against Jews,” Schwimmer continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism also urged Musk to remove West from X, stating: “Once again, Ye has gone on an antisemitic rampage online. It couldn’t be any clearer that he is an unrepentant, proud antisemite.”
Piers Morgan responded to West’s departure, writing: “So disappointed that Kanye West has deleted his X account said nobody.”
West’s account has previously been suspended multiple times for similar controversies.
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In December 2022, his account was blocked after posting antisemitic comments and an image appearing to show a swastika inside a Star of David, which Musk said warranted suspension “for incitement to violence”.
The account was reinstated in July 2023, but West’s recent behaviour has led to its deactivation once again.
Musk confirmed the action, stating: “Given what he has posted, his account is now classified as NSFW. You should not be seeing that anymore.”
The controversy follows West’s recent appearance at the Grammy Awards, where he sparked outrage after his wife Bianca Censori wore a transparent dress on the red carpet.
Before his account’s removal, West had expressed concern about his X future, writing: “Elon unfollowed me so I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be on twitter / X.”