Ye suspended from Twitter after swastika post

After making antisemitic comments and praising Hitler on Thursday, the rapper Ye has been suspended from Twitter.

The account for Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, read as “account suspended” early Friday.

Twitter owner Elon Musk said it would be suspended after a post on Ye’s account Thursday night showed an image that appeared to show a swastika inside a Star of David. The post was then blocked by Twitter for violating its rules.

Musk wrote on the platform that the suspension was “for incitement to violence.” The length of the suspension was not immediately clear.

Ye’s suspension comes around a month after the multibillionaire Musk, who has described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” bought Twitter for $44 billion.

Earlier Thursday, Ye sat down for an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, in which Ye made antisemitic comments, referred to “the Jewish media” and said, “I see good things about Hitler, also.”

Ye wore a black full-face mask in the interview. White supremacist Nick Fuentes was also on the program, which was livestreamed.

But it was after Ye’s account tweeted the image of the Star of David later Thursday that he was suspended.

Musk replied to another user: “I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.”

Ye’s Twitter account has been restricted before over antisemitic comments, but he returned to the platform in November. Musk has said Twitter restored Ye’s account before he took ownership.

Over the last several months, Ye has made a series of antisemitic remarks and statements targeting Jewish people.

Adidas cut ties with Ye in October, saying his actions have been “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous.” The move came after criticism for the company to act.

Twitter has suspended other accounts since Musk took over — including those of users who imitated Musk. He has also reinstated some previously suspended accounts, including that of former President Donald Trump.

Shortly after taking control of Twitter, Musk’s team laid off swaths of the company’s workforce, including employees that combat misinformation. On Wednesday, a top European Union official warned that the company needs to beef up measures to protect users from hate speech in order to avoid violating new rules there.

Ye appeared to suggest he would be leaving the platform Thursday night before he was suspended. He tweeted an image of a shirtless Musk being sprayed with a hose and wrote, “Let’s always remember this as my final tweet.”

Musk replied to that tweet: “That is fine.” To the now-blocked post featuring the Star of David, Musk wrote: “This is not.”