Elon Musk suspends Ye's Twitter account after swastika post
- The rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, appeared to post an image of a swastika, a symbol synonymous with the Nazis, inside a Star of David, a prominent symbol of Judaism.
- Ye's antisemitic outbursts have led to major commercial partners severing ties with the rapper.
- Adidas ended its partnership with Ye last month while Gap and Foot Locker said they'd remove products from the rapper's Yeezy brand from their stores.
Ye's Twitter account was suspended again Friday for violating the social media platform's rules on "incitement to violence," CEO Elon Musk said.
The rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, appeared to post an image of a swastika, a symbol synonymous with the Nazis, inside a Star of David, a prominent symbol of Judaism.
Musk said he "tried his best" in response to Ye's tweet, which can no longer be viewed. "Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended."
Ye's tweet came after he made antisemetic comments in an interview with the controversial radio host Alex Jones on Thursday. Ye referred to "the Jewish media" and said he saw "good things about Hitler" in an hourlong conversation with the conspiracy theorist.
In October, Twitter locked Ye's account for an unspecified amount of time following a string of antisemitic remarks which escalated into threatening and hateful comments about Jewish people. He returned to Twitter in November.
Deals off
After his suspension in October, Ye agreed to buy conservative social media company Parler.
"In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves," he said in a statement released by Parler at the time. But on Thursday, Parler said its deal to be bought by Ye has been called off.
Ye's antisemitic outbursts have led to major commercial partners scrapping deals with the rapper.
Adidas ended its partnership with Ye last month while Gap and Foot Locker said they'd remove products from the rapper's Yeezy brand from their stores.
Musk has been reinstating as well as blocking accounts since his $44 billion takeover of Twitter. He allowed former President Donald Trump back on the platform last month.
The billionaire Tesla CEO, who has called himself a "free speech absolutist," is finding the limits of that tested in his early days of owning Twitter.
'Verified' service
Musk has attempted to make sweeping changes in his first few days in charge, including gutting a huge swathe of Twitter's workforce and launching an $8 per month "Verified" service that allows users to buy the coveted blue check mark.
Twitter was forced to pause its subscription service however after users abused it by paying the fee to get a blue check then impersonating celebrities.
Musk said last week that the "Verified" service would be relaunched on Friday with different colored check marks, but there has been no update on whether this is still the case.