Kanye West has begun producing more apparel featuring swastikas, after recently saying he’s “not a Nazi”.
Earlier this month the rapper came under fire for selling a white T-shirt with a large swastika emblem on the chest, listed as “HH-01” on his website – possibly a reference to the “Heil Hitler” chant.
The site was later taken down by Shopify, though the online retailer later stated that the artist’s website was taken down due to the potential for fraud – not because it was selling a swastika t-shirt.
West then took to X (formerly Twitter) to say he’s had the idea for the t-shirt for “over eight years”. It came alongside a string of highly controversial posts which saw him rescind his apology to the Jewish community for his past anti-Semitic remarks, and go on to declare himself “a Nazi” and write: “I love Hitler”, as well as praise billionaire and X owner Elon Musk as “the most lit person that [has] ever been on Twitter”, following the latter’s accusations of Nazism at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.
On Wednesday night (February 19), the controversial rapper then seemed to backtrack on his earlier comments, taking to X to share that “after further reflection”, he’s “come to the realisation that I’m not a Nazi”.
Now though, West has shared even more merchandise featuring the swastika symbol. In a now-deleted post on X, he shared an image of five different t-shirts with the emblem. “Product coming in crispy,” he wrote in the caption last night (February 22).
The aforementioned posting spree saw his X account taken down and deactivated, and it was later confirmed that the rapper had been dropped by his talent agency, and his former Chief Of Staff had quit the Yeezy company.
Kanye West’s X account was later reinstated, and he went on to write that his “rampage” was “90 per cent Jew proof” before going on to hint at his infamous anti-Semitic tirade a couple of years back that among many other outlandish claims, saw him tell the Jewish community that they needed to “forgive Hitler” for the Holocaust – comments he apologised for back in 2023.
His rants earlier this month also saw him declare “dominion” over his wife Bianca Censori after they attended the Grammys red carpet event, where she wore a see-through dress that revealed her naked figure. He also posted a series of tweets in support of Diddy and Chris Brown and urged for the former to be released from prison amid sexual abuse allegations.
In the time since the rant on social media, Kanye West’s ‘Vultures’ collaborator Ty Dolla $ign has condemned his hate speech, Charlie Puth begged West to stop promoting “incredibly dangerous” messages, and Friends star David Schwimmer called for action to be taken against the rapper for his hate-filled “Nazi” posts, arguing that “silence is complicity”.
Elsewhere, Ye has been sued for discrimination by a former Yeezy employee, and accused of texting “Hail Hitler” to a Jewish staff member.
