Kanye West exits X, credits Elon Musk with ‘allowing me to vent’ via venomous rants

Ye, after a weekend of spewing more antisemitic and hateful comments on X, offered a message of praise for the app’s owner, Elon Musk.

“I appreciate Elon for allowing me to vent,” the controversial rapper formerly known as Kanye West tweeted Sunday evening, according to KTLA. “It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board.”

Ye gave kudos to Musk as he announced he would be going dark on X. The “Vultures 1” rapper, 47, seemingly deactivated his account days after using Musk’s platform to declare himself a Nazi and express renewed praise for Adolf Hitler. In addition to the antisemitic posts, Ye called for the release of jailed music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and declared his “dominion” over wife Bianca Censori.

The “Heartless” musician has a long history of making provocative and harmful statements and in recent years faced scrutiny for his comments about the Jewish community — a number of which he published on X. In 2022, Ye had threatened on X that he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” prompting suspensions from both that platform and Instagram. His comments also prompted multiple clothing companies and management firms to cut ties with Ye. But both X and Instagram eventually reinstated the Grammy winner’s account and he continued to double down.

In December 2023, Ye apologized for another round of antisemitic “outbursts” and said he would commit himself to “learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future.”

During Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, Ye aired a cryptic commercial directing viewers to a link for his Yeezy clothing line. The website touts only one item: a $20 white T-shirt bearing a black swastika.

Before Ye credited Musk’s platform for hosting his venomous posts, the X owner on Sunday tweeted that the rapper had been posting illicit content. Musk, also head of the Department of Government Efficiency, apparently found time between gutting various government agencies over the weekend to chime in on Ye’s internet activity. Musk also flirted with Nazi imagery earlier this year when he extended multiple salutes with his right arm during an inauguration event for President Trump.

“Given what he has posted, his account is now classified as NSFW,” Musk replied to an X user who alleged Ye had posted pornography. “You should not be seeing that anymore.”

Only time will tell.

Times assistant editor Christie D’Zurilla contributed to this report.