Kanye’s Downfall

On October 3rd of this year, rapper Kanye West was spotted at Paris Fashion Week wearing a “White Lives Matter” hoodie, a controversial move due to white lives matter being considered a white supremacy group. Kanye defended his actions by tweeting, “Everyone knows BLM was a scam, now it’s over. You’re welcome”. A few days after the tweet, Kanye was banned from Twitter and Instagram for antisemitic comments. Recently in an interview with REVOLT, he spoke on George Floyd’s death back in 2020, saying his cause of death was fentanyl and that the cop’s knee “wasn’t even on his neck like that.”

This hasn’t been the first time Kanye has stated his political stance. In 2016, he faced controversy from his black fans when he announced he supported Donald Trump in his presidential run. After that, he was regularly spotted wearing a MAGA hat from Trump’s start to the end of his presidency in 2020. As a result, on one side, many fans (particularly fans of color) stopped supporting Kanye and even boycotted his products. But, on the other side, Kanye gained new fans after his support.

Later on May 1st, 2018, in one of his interviews, Kanye claimed slavery was a choice. Although he apologized for this comment on August 29th of the same year, his behavior was still questioned. He gained even more notoriety in 2020 when he announced he would run for president. When Joe Biden won that same year, Kanye posted on his Twitter “KANYE 2024,” and about a week after his White Lives Matter hoodie drama, he posted on his Instagram a 2024 cap and confirmed his run for the presidency. This caused many of his ex-fans to double down on their decision about him, but this caused a rally of support from his fans, and even other rappers like Dababy and 50 Cent have put their support in for him.

There are many causes for Kanye’s behavior. Kanye says that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has blamed some of his behavior on the illness. Fans believe his spiral began when his mother, Donda West, passed away in 2009. Many of his fans argue whether her death is a justifiable excuse. Some fans say that Kanye needs mental help, love, and support. Other people like Kaylene Winfield (11th Grade) say, “I think he’s just doing it to make money because there is no way in his right mind he would do it; I am not surprised he did it, and it’s probably a publicity stunt.” No matter the reason, fans haven’t been able to defend his actions in this situation, and it has caused ex-fans to triple down on their decision and opinion about him. But there is one they all can agree on they all miss the old Kanye.

Rashad Jones (9th) says “I think what he did and said is crazy because he’s black and he’s trying to not claim being black and he should get help, whatever happened to antonio brown happened to kanye because they have been acting the same.”

Audrie Estridge (9th) ‘no I am not surprised by Kanye’s actions because he needs to be put in jail and acts like he was adopted by white people.”