Another day, another reason to avoid the cesspool that is Twitter. On Feb. 7, 2025, Kanye ‘Ye’ West went on a hate filled tweet tirade, praising Hitler and declaring himself a Nazi. He also took this opportunity to plug his merch shop, displaying various articles of clothing with nothing but swastikas on them.
It has me asking; what the actual hell is going on? I am desensitized to the insanity of this world, to the actions of our politicians and their supporters, the general craziness of being an American, but this? Never in my life did I expect that someone would have held the title of Nazi so proudly without the safety and anonymity of a mask, let alone a celebrity who is part of the demographic that Nazis actively discriminate against.
Ye’s tweet tirade resulted in Presidential First Lady and X CEO Elon Musk to deactivate Ye’s account. That’s ironic considering Musk’s own run-in with accusations of antisemitism. But that’s just how ridiculous this whole situation is.
In fact, Ye’s recent actions got so out of hand that the School of the Art Institute of Chicago retracted the honorary doctorate he received in 2015. Considering the nature of his tweets, this honestly might not be the best idea. Where else have we seen a radical, inflammatory, troubled artist in history before?
What happened to shame, to hiding wack ass opinions because you knew that they would be shunned? What happened to feeling scared of being associated with Nazism? Hell, why would someone want to align with any of those beliefs in the first place? Ye’s breakdowns and unpredictable behaviors have ironically become a predictable part of his brand, but this is different.
Part of me wants to believe that this is just another stunt, just a ploy for attention, but even if that is the case, the damage that has been done. Sure, Ye is a talented artist, after all he created Graduation, but there are dangerous implications when someone as rich and influential as Kanye West starts acting out like this. It doesn’t matter if he actually believes what he’s been tweeting or not.
The best we can do right now is to report his unhinged rants and disengage. Thankfully, he’s not a politician, he’s just a celebrity who’s desperate for attention. The more we engage with his accounts, with his products and posts, the more that it encourages his bullshit and the less focused we are on the bigger problems at hand.
Ye is a pawn. A blatant distraction to prevent us from realizing what’s to come for our future, and we are falling for it.
