Kanye West was suspended from Twitter after tweeting an image of a swastika, hours after praising Hitler and making anti-Semitic jokes in an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The American rapper, 45, who legally changed his name to Ye, was allowed back on the social media platform just two weeks ago after signing it was banned compared to other anti-Semitic posts.
Elon Muskthe billionaire owner of Twitter, confirmed that West was suspended for violating his policies against incitement to violence.
He had shared an image of a swastika intertwined with a Star of David.
Answering one Chirping user, who asked him to “fix Kanye,” Musk said, “I did my best.
“Despite this, he has again violated our policy against inciting violence. The account will be suspended.”
west posted a screenshot showing he was locked out of his Twitter account for 12 hours on Truth Social, the social media platform created by Donald Trumpthe former president of the United States.
Kanye West was widely condemned for a slew of anti-Semitic comments in recent months, and has been dropped by several brands, including Adidasbecause of the comments.
He fueled further controversy on Thursday when clips of him praising the Nazi leader circulated on social media.
In an interview for Infowars, the far-right conspiracy theory website owned by Jones, West said, “I like Hitler.”
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Jones told the rapper, “You’re not Hitler, you’re not a Nazi, so you don’t deserve to be called that and demonized.”
West, whose face was hidden by a black mask, replied, “Well, I see good things about Hitler too.
“I love everybody, and Jews won’t tell me, ‘you can love, you know, us’…every human being has something of value they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”
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His Twitter account was previously blocked after he posted that he was “going to death with 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE” before stating that he was “not anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jews too.”
He also accused record producer Sean “Diddy” Combs of being controlled by “Jewish people” in an Instagram post.
West was blocked off Instagram for 30 days after violating its policies.
Karen Pollock CBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said: “Kanye West’s ‘I like Hitler’ comments and subsequent tweets are repugnant and disgusting. These comments mixed with his high profile and huge following have dangerous consequences.
“It’s blatant hatred of Jews and it needs to be denounced and stopped. Enough.”
West has also made other controversial remarks in recent weeks, including suggestions that slavery was “a choice” and calling the COVID-19 vaccine the “mark of the beast”.
His latest Twitter ban came hours after Parler, a right-wing social media platform, said West would no longer buy the company.
Parlement Technologies, its parent company, said both parties had “mutually agreed” to end the sale intention in mid-November.
Fellow rapper Akon told Sky News he supported West’s right to an opinion, but he didn’t agree with what he said.
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Akon reacts to Kayne West’s recent Twitter suspension
He said, “I’m an advocate for the right to believe what you want to believe. Now the day he and I have a conversation, I’m going to give him my take on why I disagree and then he might come back.” and say “you know what, you’re right” or he might say I’m not. But I want to understand why he sees things that way. So, I say communication and conversation is key, but sometimes we shut it out and you can’t never get anywhere if you don’t communicate.”
Prompted that it bothered him that West’s opinions were hurtful to many people, Akon replied, “Not really because those comments don’t really concern me, personally, and I think if everyone takes it that way, then it’s different.” And if it does affect you personally, then find a way to actually respond in a way where that conversation can be reciprocated.
“I think it’s really a matter of both sides really understanding what it is and not taking things too personally until we understand the situation.”
