Rapper and entrepreneur Kanye West had been absent from Twitter ever since posting an antisemitic Tweet last month that drew plenty of backlash and cost him business partnerships and major endorsements – including his massive deal with Adidas. But early Thursday morning, Ye returned to Twitter and sparked a fresh new controversy by sharing a photo of Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who is in the middle of his own controversy after sharing a link to an antisemitic film last month.
Hours after Irving shared a statement acknowledging the impact of his actions – while not apologizing – Kanye West shared a close-up portrait photo of Irving on his Twitter account without any other context.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1588047767561449473
Many thought that Kanye West’s account had been banned from Twitter after his antisemitic comments and that his photo of Irving was his first Tweet since the ban had been lifted, but that was not the case. As Bloomberg reporter Kurt Wagner explains, Ye has been able to Tweet for weeks.
Seeing a lot of confusion around this today: @kanyewest was not un-banned or reinstated today. He was never banned. His account was temporarily frozen. That freeze was quickly lifted weeks ago, according to two sources. He’s been able to tweet for weeks.
— Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8) October 28, 2022
“Seeing a lot of confusion around this today: @kanyewest was not un-banned or reinstated today. He was never banned. His account was temporarily frozen. That freeze was quickly lifted weeks ago, according to two sources. He’s been able to tweet for weeks,” Wagner said.
Whether he was banned or not, Kanye West chose to share a photo of Irving – a player who caused controversy by sharing an antisemitic film – in his first Tweet since posting an antisemitic comment himself. That caused quite a reaction from the sports world.
Both these guys are brilliant at what they do and people want to like them. Which makes this continued nonsense all the more unfortunate. https://t.co/g8D9fntQ9a
— Robin Lundberg (@robinlundberg) November 3, 2022
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) November 3, 2022
Cannot possibly articulate how terrifying it is when some of the most influential celebrities on the planet are spreading fake Hitler quotes and centuries-old conspiracy theories
I hate how legitimately scared I feel rn for my community, my family. We should all feel scared tbh https://t.co/ffdKFdTViv
— Sophie Ross (@SophRossss) November 3, 2022
the guy who praises hitler returns to twitter to post a photo of the guy who promoted a movie denying the Holocaust… oy. https://t.co/6lfAr9BZsR
— peter f✡︎x (@thatpeterfox) November 3, 2022
hell world https://t.co/RWh5JfW2Mx
— Arif Hasan, but NFL 🏈 (@ArifHasanNFL) November 3, 2022
The last thing Kyrie wants right now. Lol https://t.co/44V1QpCQe3
— Mahmoud Hafez (@mhafez) November 3, 2022
Given everything that’s happened with Kanye West and Kyrie Irving the past few weeks, this is certainly a wild development.
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