The former president and rapper have made anti-Semitic remarks sparking anger and criticism. Donald Trump the former president, and rapper Kanye West also known as Ye spoke over the phone on Monday to schedule a face-to-face meeting over dinner. Both individuals are facing unconnected accusations of anti-Semitism.
The pair spoke on the phone following an announcement that Kanye who is a Grammy-winning artist though controversial and troubled will purchase his own social media platform, Parler. This is according to what Politico was told by an inside source. Parler is a right-wing social media site. The site announced that Kanye will purchase for an undisclosed fee before the year ends.
It is believed Kanye called the former president first and planned to have an in-person dinner though a date has not been scheduled yet. The rapper may be pushing to buy his own social media app after he was banned from using Twitter and Instagram following his remarks against Jewish people. Kanye has alleged that his wife’s decision to divorce him has been highly influenced by Jewish people and he went further to threaten them on his social media accounts.
Mr Trump is also facing criticism and anger following his recent released statement that claimed that Jewish Americans are “ungrateful” for how his government supported Israel and demanded that they “get their act together” and support him. These remarks have sparked anger among different communities in the US.
The pair has previously met in the Oval Office for lunch when Donald Trump was still serving as president. Kanye has been blocked on several social media sites and was earlier this year banned from performing at this year’s Grammy awards because of his actions. In March Kanye was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours for actions relating to bullying Trevor Noah a comedian.
Earlier during the Paris, Fashion Week Kanye had also drawn controversy and backlash after he wore a T-shirt with the words “White Lives Matter.” Following his anti-Semitic messages on the two social media sites Twitter and Instagram, Kanye has been locked out of his accounts. He started by accusing another rapper Sean Combs known as Diddy of being controlled by Jewish people before he was locked out on Instagram over the weekend.
He then rejoined Twitter to post the message that he will go “death con 3 On Jewish people” before he was also locked out on the site. His posts have been removed by both sites that have cited a violation of policies on hate speech as the reason.
Kanye attacked Diddy following Diddy’s reaction and comments about the “White Lives Matter” t-shirts that he criticised. Diddy wrote on Instagram “All lives matter-but that Black Lives Matter, don’t play with it. Don’t wear a shirt. Don’t buy the shirt. Don’t play with the shirt. It’s not a joke.” Black Lives Matter is a movement that began after the shooting of George Floyd.
Kanye West who has a history of making contentious remarks and erratic behaviour has come out in the open to discuss his mental health and has publicly admitted that he has bipolar disorder. His anti-Semitic statements though have sparked criticism from different people including his peers.
Parler is a conservative site that was started in 2018. The Chief executive of Parler’s parent company, Parlement Technologies, George Farmer commented on the upcoming purchase that “this deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech. He is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again.” The site is mostly used in the US by conservatives and has been described as a substitute for mainstream social media platforms with “free speech” and no fear of cancellation.
The announcement from Parler read “under the terms of their agreement in principle, the parties intend to enter into a definitive purchase agreement and expect to close during the fourth quarter of 2022.”
While Kanye is exploring new ventures, his current actions and violent threats have put his other business interest at risk with Adidas saying it will review its Adidas Yeezy partnership with Kanye following the Paris Fashion Week controversy.
Kanye’s an interview with The Shop: Uninterrupted a talk show on YouTube has also been pulled off following claims of “hate speech, extremely dangerous stereotypes and anti-Semitic remarks” that the rapper made during the filming of the interview. The producers of the show released a statement on their decision which said that while “the shop embraces thoughtful discourse and differing opinions, we have zero tolerance for hate speech of any kind and will never allow our channels to be used to promote hate.”
