Kanye West has been suspended from Twitter after he tweeted an image of a swastika, hours after he praised Hitler and made antisemitic jokes in an interview with the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The American rapper, 45, who has legally changed his name to Ye, was only allowed back on to the social media platform two weeks ago after he was banned over other antisemitic posts.
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter, confirmed West had been suspended for violating its policies against inciting violence.
He had shared an image of a swastika entwined with a Star of David.
Replying to one Twitter user, who asked him to “fix Kanye”, Musk said: “I tried my best.
“Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.”
West posted a screenshot showing he was locked out of his Twitter account for 12 hours on Truth Social, the social media platform created by Donald Trump, the former US president.
Kanye West has been widely condemned for a slew of antisemitic comments in recent months, and has been dropped by several brands, including Adidas, because of the remarks.
He stoked further controversy on Thursday when clips of him praising the Nazi leader circulated on social media.
In the interview for Infowars, the far-right conspiracy theory website owned by Jones, West said: “I like Hitler.”
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
Jones said to the rapper: “You’re not Hitler, you’re not a Nazi, so you don’t deserve to be called that and demonised.”
West, whose face was hidden by a black mask, replied: “Well, I see good things about Hitler also.
“I love everyone, and Jewish people are not going to tell me, ‘you can love, you know, us’… every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”
Read more:
West and Kim Kardashian reach divorce settlement
West returns to Twitter with ‘shalom’ post after antisemitism ban
Kardashian says hate speech ‘never okay’
Adidas investigating claims West showed porn to staff
His Twitter account was previously locked after he posted that he was “going death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE” before alleging he was not “antisemitic because black people are actually Jew also”.
He also accused record producer Sean “Diddy” Combs of being controlled by “the Jewish people” in a post on Instagram.
West was locked out of Instagram for 30 days after violating its policies.
Karen Pollock CBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said: “Kanye West’s ‘I like Hitler’ comments and subsequent tweets are repulsive and sickening. These comments mixed with his high profile and huge following has dangerous consequences.
“It is blatant Jew hate and needs to be called out and stopped. Enough.”
West has also made other controversial remarks in recent weeks, including suggestions slavery was “a choice” and calling the COVID-19 vaccine the “mark of the beast”.
His latest Twitter ban came hours after Parler, a right-leaning social media platform, said West would no longer be buying the company.
Parlement Technologies, its parent company, said both parties had “mutually agreed” to terminate the intent of sale in mid-November.
Fellow rapper Akon told Sky News he supported West’s right to an opinion, but he disagreed with what he had said.
He said: “I’m a backer of the right to believe what you want to believe. Now, the day he and I have a conversation, I will give him my point of view on why I disagree and then he may come back and say ‘you know what, you’re right’ or he may say I’m not. But I want to understand why he’s viewing things that way. So, I say communication and conversation is the key, but sometimes we block that out and you can never get anywhere if you’re not communicating.”
Pushed on whether it bothered him that West’s views were offensive to many people, Akon replied: “Not really because those comments don’t really affect me, personally, and I think if everyone takes it that way then it’s different. And if it does affect you personally then find a way to actually respond in a way to where that conversation can be reciprocated.
“I think its really a matter of both sides really understanding what it is and not taking things too personally until you understand the situation.”