Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West is no longer venturing into the world of social media as Parler has shared that they won’t be selling a month after the deal was first announced.
Parler shared a statement about the move on its Twitter page which explains that the decision was mutually made in November “in the interest of both parties.”
Following his temporary bans on Instagram and Twitter back in October, Ye shared his plans to purchase Parler, a social media platform that labels itself on free speech. Ye had received these bans for antisemitic posts he had made.
Since then, Ye has gone on an antisemitic tirade with the latest stop being Alex Jones’ Infowars joined by far-right figure Nicholas J. Fuentes. In this interview, the rapper appeared to praise Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
Given his descent from stardom and outright antisemitism, brands have been distancing themselves from Ye en masse. While the move does seem to have been decided before this latest outburst on Infowars it looks as though even Parler would not look past the hate.
For now, at least, this appears to be the end of Ye’s plans to purchase his own social media platform, but for Parler, this doesn’t look to be the end of their goal to sell.
In a follow-up post to the initial statement, Parler shared that it will “continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform.” So perhaps a Parler sale is still on the horizon.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents reached an “all-time high” in 2021, and 2022 is on a similar track. This includes assault, harassment, and vandalism. For more information on the dangers of antisemitic rhetoric and what you can do to stop it, see the American Jewish Committee’s Call to Action Against Antisemitism in America.
Published: Dec 1, 2022 07:02 pm