Thanking Elon Musk for ‘allowing me to vent,’ Kanye West quits X after antisemitic rant
“It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board,” Ye posted
Kanye West and Bianca Censori attend the 67th Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Feb. 2, 2025. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
(JTA) — Two days after drawing attention for a string of antisemitic posts, the rapper and artist Ye says he has signed off X.
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, announced late Sunday that he was quitting the platform, owned by Elon Musk. Musk invited the artist back onto the platform after taking ownership of it more than two years ago, despite Ye’s record of antisemitism.
“I appreciate Elon for allowing me to vent,” Ye wrote in his final post, which was deleted when he removed his account. “It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board … It was like an Ayahuasca trip.”
He added, “Love all of you who gave me your energy and attention.”
Ye’s posts on Friday — in which he declared himself a Nazi, praised Adolf Hitler and said he did not “like or trust any Jewish person” — elicited condemnation from a wide array of voices, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish actor David Schwimmer. But, like legions of other antisemitic posts on the platform, they also drew thousands of “likes” as well as a wave of attention to the rapper and designer.
They also renewed attention on Musk’s leadership of X, where he has removed many restrictions on hateful speech, turning the platform into a haven for neo-Nazis and other extremists. Musk recently drew criticism for making a gesture that looked like a Nazi salute at a rally, and responded to the controversy in part by making Holocaust jokes on X.
On Friday, with Ye’s tweets commanding headlines, Musk — who is currently leading a White House effort to cut and reshape U.S. government spending — posted a screenshot of his platform’s “trending topics” including Kanye West and wrote, “We are on the most entertaining timeline,” followed by a laughing emoji.
