Kanye West back on X just days after latest antisemitic rant

Rapper caused uproar after sharing a string of antisemitic posts to X, later posting a T-shirt with a swastika symbol to his Yeezy website. Kanye West appears to have had his X account reinstated just three days after sharing a string of antisemitic, homophobic and misogynist posts. The disgraced rapper, 47, vanished from the social media platform after sparking outrage over his tirade, in which he declared he declared he “loved HItler” and that he was “a Nazi”.

While it was unclear whether West – who legally changed his name to Ye in 2022 – had deleted the account himself, X owner Elon Musk told his followers that they “won’t be seeing” his account anymore. “Given what [Kanye] has posted, his account is now classified as NSFW [not safe for work]. You should not be seeing that anymore,” Musk said at the time, replying to a follower who complained about the content being shared to West’s page.

West thanked Musk for “allowing me to vent” before his account disappeared. However, West’s account has since reappeared, with a warning on his page that it might contain “sensitive content”, which was previously added during his rant last week. The offending posts appear to have been wiped, with just one reply post referencing Nazis, made on 10 February, remaining. The Independent has contacted X for comment.

This week, West was dropped by his talent agency over his latest actions, which have also involved selling T-shirts with a swastika on them on his online shop. The swastika T-shirt was placed for sale on his Yeezy website with the product line “HH-01”, which was widely assumed to be code for “Heil Hitler”. Shortly after, the company that provided the online platform for the website removed it, stating: “All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms.”.

Meanwhile, Daniel McCartney of the 33 & West agency announced that his working relationship with West had been terminated “due to his harmful and hateful remarks that myself nor 33 & West can stand for”. West is planning to release a new album, Bully, this summer. He recently told a podcast host that he had been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and is in fact autistic. The Independent has been unable to reach West for comment.

West’s antisemitism controversy erupted in December 2022 after he said he “liked Hitler” during an interview with right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his show Infowars. West, who had recently been dropped by brands including Adidas, GAP and Balenciaga following a string of antisemitic comments, repeatedly praised the Nazi leader during his appearance on the show. His most recent posts have been condemned by fellow celebrities including Friends star David Schwimmer, who called on Musk to ban the rapper from the platform, as well as several organisations that campaign against antisemitism.

“This is so 2022,” said Schwimmer in a post. “We can’t stop a deranged bigot from spewing hate-filled, ignorant bile… but we CAN stop giving him a megaphone, Mr Musk.”. “Kanye West has 32.7 million followers on your platform, X,” he told Musk. “That’s twice as many people than the number of Jews in existence.”. “His sick hate speech results in REAL LIFE violence against Jews,” the actor argued. “I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that he identifies as a Nazi (which implies he wants to exterminate ALL marginalised communities including his own) or the fact that there is not sufficient OUTRAGE to remove and ban him from all social media at this point.”.