<\/p>\n
It seemed for a while that Ye, the artist known for most of his career as Kanye West, might be a permanent industry pariah. In 2022, several months after he tweeted, \u201cDeath con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE<\/a>,\u201d he appeared on InfoWars with noted antisemite and right-wing provocateur Nick Fuentes<\/a>, telling host Alex Jones, \u201cI like Hitler. I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis<\/a>.\u201d In February 2025, he reiterated his love of Hitler and Nazis<\/a> by purchasing local ad time during the Super Bowl<\/a> to direct people to his website, where he was selling T-shirts featuring a swastika<\/a>. A few months after that, Ye released the song \u201cHeil Hitler.\u201d<\/a> But last week, his album \u201cBully\u201d debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, and celebrity guests Travis Scott, CeeLo Green and Lauryn Hill appeared with him during two sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. In what were his first shows in the United States since 2021, Ye was able to make a reported $33 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n It seemed for a while that Ye might be a permanent pariah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Though his statements cost him a number of business partnerships<\/a> and reportedly cost him his billionaire status<\/a>, Ye has continued to be one of the most popular rappers<\/a> across streaming platforms<\/a>, and as the SoFi Stadium concerts showed, he remains an in-demand performer. He was scheduled to perform at a festival in London this summer, but the backlash reached such a pitch that the United Kingdom\u2019s Home Office announced on Tuesday that it would block him from traveling to the country. A spokesperson for the Home Office said in a statement, \u201cHis presence in the U.K. would not be conducive to the public good<\/a>,\u201d and the festival itself was canceled.<\/p>\n But if he is still able to make tens of millions of dollars for a couple shows, will that matter? The Los Angeles concerts proved people, including his industry peers, are still willing to show up for and stand with Ye.<\/p>\n It\u2019s reminiscent of how many artists were still eager to work with R. Kelly<\/a>, even after the allegations of abuse of girls surfaced in 2002 (indeed, even before then, when he secretly married teenager Aaliyah<\/a>). Their morality has been tainted by their pursuit of popularity and profits, and with no social or financial pressure to stop them. Even someone like Hill, known for her social consciousness, has not dropped her association with Ye. In past cases, some Black people defending Black male celebrities have twisted themselves into the belief they are rehabilitating the image of a Black man who has been unfairly tried in the court of public opinion, no matter who that Black man has harmed or how publicly they\u2019ve committed that harm. ( One would hope they would find it in themselves and their own sense of what is right to demand more of their peers, but thus far, few have taken up the cause.<\/p>\n In January, Ye took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal<\/a> to blame his behavior on untreated bipolar I disorder and brain damage he linked to his infamous car accident when he was on the precipice of fame almost 24 years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.\u201d<\/p>\n These words could be a good start, if there were any reason to believe Ye was being sincere. But his issuing an apology in the run up to new music and a tour makes it feel like it was coming from someone more concerned with ticket sales than contrition. Even if his apology were sincere, let\u2019s acknowledge that there\u2019s a big difference between the questions, \u201cShould a person who has caused harm with their words or actions be given the opportunity to apologize, make amends, and redeem themselves?\u201d and, \u201cShould a person who has caused harm with their words or actions be given the opportunity to make millions of dollars?\u201d<\/p>\n Ye has been here before, after saying and doing things that hurt and antagonized the very people he claims to make music for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ye has been here before, after saying and doing things that hurt and antagonized the very people he claims to make music for.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you hear about slavery for 400 years \u2026 For 400 years? That sounds like a choice<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He went to the White House to profess his love for President Donald Trump and the red MAGA hat (\u201cIt was something about when I put this hat on, it made me feel like Superman. You made a Superman. That\u2019s my favorite superhero. You made a Superman cape for me.\u201d) In August 2018, , two months after he released the album \u201cYe,\u201d<\/a> he told a radio station in his hometown of Chicago, \u201c I\u2019m sorry for the one-two effect of the MAGA hat into the slave comment<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n But not even that accounts for all his offensiveness. He sold Confederate flag merchandise<\/a> while touring his album \u201cYeezus.\u201d In short, he has made it hard for many people to be a fan of his.<\/p>\n And yet, there are people out there willing to look past all these things and readily embrace the next thing he does. He\u2019s not unique in that respect. As Ye makes his return to the stage, Netflix is welcoming back Louis C.K., the once well-respected comedian who admitted to repeatedly masturbating in front of women in the comedy industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nothing approaching accountability has been asked of these men. They are just moving on.<\/p>\n Then again, it feels strange demanding accountability for a rapper and a comic when the president of the United States was found liable of sexual abuse<\/a>.<\/p>\n Demanding little in the way of contrition has landed us in a place where it no longer matters what harm people have caused \u2014 they can always find their way back to more wealth, more power. If people are not even willing to forgo streaming an artist who has promoted and fostered hate before he has done anything substantial to make it right, we will keep on this road until truly no act will be beyond the pale.<\/p>\n The post The sad truth about Kanye West\u2019s comeback<\/a> appeared first on MS NOW<\/a>.<\/p>\n