Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Graeme Massie

Kanye West deletes all Instagram posts as 24-hour suspension nears an end

Getty Images

Kanye West deleted all his Instagram posts as his 24-hour suspension for attacking Trevor Noah with a racial slur on the social media platform neared its end.

The move came after the rapper’s account was locked for 24 hours by the social media platform after he insulted Noah, the writing partner of Kim Kardashian’s boyfriend Pete Davidson.

Instagram’s parent company Meta took action on Wednesday and has said it views West’s post as a violation of the platform’s policies on hate speech, harassment and bullying.

And with just a few hours left until the company’s suspension was due to finish on Thursday, West’s account, which has 15.6m followers, was showing zero posts.

Meta confirmed to The Independent that they had deleted content from West’s account and temporarily restricted the account from posting, commenting and sending direct messages.

In his post aimed at Noah, West (now known only as Ye) repeatedly referred to him as a “k**n” after the comedian said that the situation between West, his ex-wife and Davidson was “terrifying to watch”.

The phrase is described by Urban Dictionary as a Black person who is anti-Black.

View this profile on Instagram

ye (@kanyewest) • Instagram photos and videos

Noah addressed the post directly by commenting on it.

“You’re an indelible part of my life Ye. Which is why it breaks my heart to see you like this,” he wrote in response.

“I don’t care if you support Trump and I don’t care if you roast Pete. I do however care when I see you on a path that’s dangerously close to peril and pain … Don’t ever forget, the biggest trick racists ever played on black people was teaching us to strip each other of our blackness whenever we disagree. Tricking us into dividing ourselves up into splinters so that we would never unite into a powerful rod.”

Noah is believed to have provoked West’s ire with comments made on his show, when he addressed the dynamic between the rapper, Kardashian and Davidson.

“What [Kardashian is] going through is terrifying to watch, and it shines a spotlight on what so many women go through when they choose to leave,” Noah said.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.