Kanye West has spoken out on his much-criticised social media use as part of an impromptu rant, captured on Instagram Live.
On Friday (15 December), West, 46, hosted a listening party of his new record for friends and colleagues, during which he gave a rambling speech about his opinions on wealth and power.
At one point in the video, captured by media personality YesJulz, West – also known as Ye – seemingly addressed an antisemitic tweet he posted in 2022.
Kanye West on Instagram Live— (Instagram / YesJulz)
He tweeted that he was “going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE”, adding: “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
The post led to Ye’s temporary expulsion from the social media site before his account was reinstated in July.
“When I first put the tweet up, I was dealing with a divorce lawyer,” the “Bound 2” artist said in his speech, referring to the end of his marriage to media personality Kim Kardashian.
“I explained to the lawyer what my issue was, and his response was to me, ‘If you keep up this antisemitic rhetoric, you won’t see your kids.’ I knew I couldn’t have an opinion, or I wouldn’t see my kids.
“Y’all know who y’all f***ing playing with?” he continued. “This is a vessel of God, He gon’ burn all your s*** down.”
West has faced widespread criticism for antisemitic comments he has made— (Getty Images For Balenciaga)
Ye and Kardashian share four children: North, 10, Saint, eight, five-year-old Chicago and four-year-old Psalm.
Elsewhere in his tirade, Ye expressed ire towards Bernard Arnault, the CEO of luxury goods company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, as well as brands Balenciaga, Gap and Adidas.
As a result of his various public comments about Jewish people, several brands severed ties with the music artist. The termination of his deal with Adidas for the Yeezy brand resulted in his net worth dropping from $2bn to $400m.
Ye also spoke briefly about what he deemed conspiracies of people trying to “get him” by mentioning the downfall of entertainers and convicted sex criminals Bill Cosby and R Kelly. “I knew these n****s was trying to make ‘Surviving Ye’,” he said.
“Bill Cosby couldn’t do s*** by the time they got him, R Kelly couldn’t do s*** by the time they got him, that’s why I had to set it up. Because the same [people] who made them rich is the same people doing the documentary.”
Kanye and Kim Kardashian were involved in a high profile split
Ye also shared his views on power in society.
“This is the way the world works,” he began. “God runs the world, then other than that, you got thousand-year-old families – Medici. Under that, you have the Vatican, the Pope. Under that, you got the financial groups who control all your s***.
“After that you have Putin; you have Trump, you have all this s***. And after that, you have what all this s*** is: you have entertainment, you have Hollywood. Take that, run that back, run it in schools.”
The Independent has reached out to a representative of Kanye West for comment.
The embattled rapper and producer was expected to release his latest album, Vultures, on Friday. However, fans were dismayed to learn that the project was not available on the day, with its delay being partly due to Nicki Minaj’s refusal to OK the use of an unreleased collaborative track, “New Body”.
