Kanye West’s ‘White Lives Matter’ Scandal, Aftermath: Everything to Know
Kanye West is dealing with the fallout from his Paris Fashion Week scandal, in which he wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt, a Fashion editor for her criticism, and was later temporarily restricted to multiple social media outlets after she shared an anti-Semitic message.
The “famous” rapper first caused a stir on October 3 when he wore the controversial T-shirt at his Yeezy Season 9 collection show. The response was swift and West targeted one critic in particular – Vogue Editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnsonwhich he mocked on social media for her own fashion choices.
Things only got messier over the next few days, as West shared Instagram posts about his ex-wife Kim Kardashianalleging that she and her family “kidnapped” their daughter Chicago and refused to let him see her at her 4th birthday party, allegations he originally made earlier this year (and the Kardashians previously denied).
Khloe Kardashian got into the fray to beg her former brother-in-law to stop his diatribes, which only made the artist “Jesus Walks” more on his comments.
On October 7, West sat down for a controversial interview on Tucker Carlson‘s Fox News show, in which he explained why he chose to wear the “White Lives Matter” shirt on the back.
“I do certain things from a feeling, I just channel the energy. It just feels right,” explains the designer. “It uses a gut feeling, a connection to God and just genius.
He added: “People, they look for an explanation, and people say, ‘Well, as an artist you don’t have to explain’, but as a leader you do. So the answer to why I wrote “White Lives Matter” on a shirt is because they do. It’s obvious.”
The following day, after sharing an anti-Semitic message via Instagram, the Chicago resident’s account was restricted by Instagram’s parent company Meta for violating its rules and guidelines. His Twitter account was also temporarily blocked.
“I burst into tears,” Jamie Lee Curtis told Hoda Kotbo about seeing West’s comments. “I woke up and burst into tears. Defcon 3 on Jewish people? What are you doing?”
She added: “It’s bad enough that fascism is on the rise around the world. But on Twitter, on a portal, to pour that in? As if Jewish people haven’t had a hard enough time already?”
Keep scrolling for everything you need to know about West’s Paris Fashion Week scandal, its aftermath, and all the drama surrounding it: