What’s Up with Ye?

Kanye (also known as Ye) has broken headlines once again. Right when one thinks,”Well, he’s done it all,” Ye swings by to prove them wrong. However, not all press is good press, and this only proves that a hundred-fold. Before diving deep, the question I have is, “What’s up with ‘Ye?”

One of the distasteful incidents happened on Oct. 3, when Ye was seen sporting a “White Lives Matter” shirt to his Paris Fashion show, “YZYSZN9.” He wore fairly-matching shirts alongside Candace Owens, a conservative commentator.

During a Sunday appearance on Revolt.TV’s “Drink Champs,” Kanye also went on a three and a half hour-long rant about various topics. The most controversial would have to be his opinion on George Floyd. Apparently, Kanye agrees with Candace Owens about their twisted, skewed belief that Floyd (in their eyes) died of a Fentanyl overdose. Kanye must be behind in times, since it was confirmed that is untrue, and the cop who killed Floyd was found guilty. But also, why bring it up now? Why wait two whole years to announce this? Hasn’t Floyd’s family been through enough turmoil? 

Only a few days later did another incident occur. Around midnight on October 8, Ye took to Twitter to spread more hatred, unfortunate misspellings, and annoying misgrammar. In said tweet, Ye said he was going to go “death con 3” (correct spelling is DEFCON 3) on Jewish people. He also claimed he can’t be racist anyway, since “black people are actually Jew.” 

Soon after, his tweet was taken down for violating Twitter’s user agreements. As if it would comfort anyone, Elon Musk then sent out a tweet explaining how he had spoken to Ye following the incident and said he thinks Ye “took it to heart.”

How bad must things be going if Elon Musk is the voice of reason? Instead of keeping up with regulation policies, will Elon Musk just call up the alleged tweeter? At what point do we lower our compassion and raise our accountability?

Kanye West has a net worth of 2 billion dollars (prior to being dropped by Adidas). He has a full team working full-time for him exclusively. He even has a PR team (who may not be the best at their job, in light of recent events.) Yes, he struggles with bipolar disorder. Kanye has been somewhat public about that since his diagnosis in 2018. The reason for a lot of his erratic behavior is due to it. At what point, however, does his reason also have to count as an excuse? 

His condition can still be valid, and not every mistake can be avoided, but why is his team letting him roam free and unfiltered? Some of his erratic behaviors are hate-driven. Why is asking him to get help seen as a “hater,” but he is somehow exempt from the same label when wishing actual death on Jewish people?

I am sick and tired of hearing the main reason he’s excluded from consequences is because of how sensational his music is. Since when is a solid bridge a reason to get a “Get Out of Jail Free” card in life?

Here are some updates regarding Kanye’s partnerships with brands:

On Oct. 25, Adidas ended their Yeezy partnership with Ye.

Since then, these other companies have dropped Ye: Gap, Balenciaga, JP Morgan Chase, MRC, CAA, Foot Locker, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Marshalls, Christie’s, Madame Tussauds London, The RealReal, and Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe and Rottenstreich (his own law firm).

To wrap this up, I believe a recent lyric from Ms. Taylor Swift fits perfectly:

“Karma’s a relaxing thought. Aren’t you envious that, for you, it’s not?”

(Say what you will about Swift, but at least you don’t have to wake up and worry if she had posted any pro-genocide tweets.)