Kanye West's pro-Hitler song gets millions of views on X
West -- the winner of 24 Grammys over the course of his career in hip-hop -- in recent years has made repeated anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi statements.
"Heil Hitler" was released on May 8 by the 47-year-old artist who now prefers to go by Ye -- the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
As of Saturday, the video had been seen nearly 10 million times.
In the clip, dozens of Black men -- wearing animal pelts and masks, and standing in a block formation -- chant the title of the song, as West raps about being misunderstood and his custody battle with ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
The song ends with an extract of a speech by the Nazi dictator.
NBC News cited a YouTube spokesperson as saying: "We removed the content and will continue to take down reuploads."
Reddit also told NBC that it would remove any versions of the song from its platform, with a spokesperson adding: "Hate and anti-Semitism have absolutely no place on Reddit."
The song has also been removed from streaming platforms Spotify and Apple Music.
Since Musk purchased Twitter (now X) in 2022, he has allowed hate speech and disinformation on the site, positioning himself as a champion of free speech.
But critics say the Tesla and SpaceX chief is amplifying those who share his political beliefs.
Musk has become a close ally of President Donald Trump, and donated $277 million to support Trump and other Republican candidates in the 2024 election.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.
In February, West's X account was deactivated after a days-long rant that included vitriolic, anti-Semitic outbursts.
He also repeatedly referred to himself as a "Nazi."
Also in February, the website of his Yeezy fashion brand was taken offline after plain white T-shirts with a swastika went on sale.
The rapper had been locked out of social media platforms in the past, notably when he was banned from X for nearly eight months for violating rules barring incitement to violence.
Adidas cut ties with West in 2022 after allegations of anti-Semitism against him.
The partnership was one of the most successful sportswear tie-ups in history, and the resulting Yeezy range went on to help make West a billionaire.
As of Saturday, Forbes put his net worth at $400 million.
For years, West has spoken openly about struggles with bipolar disorder. He has said on "The Download" podcast that he has been diagnosed with autism.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
12 hours ago
- LeMonde
Trump says he's focusing on Russia, China, Iran and 'not thinking about Elon Musk': 'I just wish him well'
US President Donald Trump said Friday, June 6, that Elon Musk had "lost his mind" but insisted he wanted to move on from the fiery split with his billionaire former ally. The blistering public break-up between the world's richest person and the world's most powerful is fraught with political and economic risks all around. Trump had scrapped the idea of a call with Musk and was even thinking of ditching the red Tesla he bought at the height of their bromance, White House officials told AFP. "Honestly I've been so busy working on China, working on Russia, working on Iran... I'm not thinking about Elon Musk, I just wish him well," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to his New Jersey golf club late Friday. Earlier, Trump told US broadcasters that he now wanted to focus instead on passing his "big, beautiful" mega-bill before Congress – Musk's harsh criticism of which had sparked their break-up. But the 78-year-old Republican could not stop himself from taking aim at his South African-born friend-turned-enemy. "You mean the man who has lost his mind?" Trump said in a call with ABC when asked about Musk, adding that he was "not particularly" interested in talking to the tycoon. Trump later told Fox News that Musk had "lost it." Just a week ago Trump gave Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after four months working there. 'Very disappointed' While there had been reports of tensions, the sheer speed at which their relationship imploded stunned Washington. After Musk called Trump's spending bill an "abomination" on Tuesday, Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe on Thursday in which he said he was "very disappointed" by the entrepreneur. Trump's spending bill faces a difficult path through Congress as it will raise the US deficit, while critics say it will cut health care for millions of the poorest Americans. The row then went nuclear, with Musk slinging insults at Trump and accusing him without evidence of being in government files on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump hit back with the power of the US government behind him, saying he could cancel the SpaceX boss's multi-billion-dollar rocket and satellite contracts. Trump struck a milder tone late Friday when asked how seriously he is considering cutting Musk's contracts. "It's a lot of money, it's a lot of subsidy, so we'll take a look – only if it's fair. Only if it's to be fair for him and the country," he said. Musk apparently also tried to de-escalate social media hostilities. The right-wing tech baron rowed back on a threat to scrap his company's Dragon spacecraft – vital for ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. And on Friday, the usually garrulous poster kept a low social media profile on his X social network. But the White House denied reports that they would talk. "The president does not intend to speak to Musk today," a senior White House official told AFP. A second official said Musk had requested a call. Tesla giveaway? Tesla stocks tanked more than 14% on Thursday amid the row, losing some $100 billion of the company's market value, but recovered partly on Friday. Trump is now considering either selling or giving away the cherry red Tesla S that he announced he had bought from Musk's firm in March. The electric vehicle was still parked on the White House grounds on Friday. "He's thinking about it, yes," a senior White House official told AFP when asked if Trump would sell or give it away. Trump and Musk had posed inside the car at a bizarre event in March, when the president turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom after viral protests against Musk's DOGE role. But while Trump appeared to hold many of the cards, Musk also has some to play. His wealth allowed him to be the biggest donor to Trump's 2024 campaign, to the tune of nearly $300 million. Any further support for the 2026 midterm election now appears in doubt –while Musk could also use his money to undermine Trump's support on the right.
LeMonde
14 hours ago
- LeMonde
Supreme Court allows DOGE team to access Social Security systems with data on millions of Americans
The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration two victories Friday, June 6, in cases involving the Department of Government Efficiency, including giving it access to Social Security systems containing personal data on millions of Americans. The justices also separately reined in orders seeking transparency at DOGE, the team once led by billionaire Elon Musk. The court's conservative majority sided with the Trump administration in the first Supreme Court appeals involving DOGE. The three liberal justices dissented in both cases. The DOGE victories come amid a messy breakup between the president and the world's richest man that started shortly after Musk's departure from the White House and has included threats to cut government contracts and a call for the president to be impeached. The future of DOGE's work isn't clear without Musk at the helm, but both men have previously said that it will continue its efforts. In one case, the high court halted an order from a judge in Maryland that has restricted the team's access to the Social Security Administration under federal privacy laws. "We conclude that, under the present circumstances, SSA may proceed to afford members of the SSA DOGE Team access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work," the court said in an unsigned order. Conservative lower-court judges have said there's no evidence at this point of DOGE mishandling personal information. The agency holds sensitive data on nearly everyone in the country, including school records, salary details and medical information. 'Grave privacy risks' Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the court's action creates "grave privacy risks" for millions of Americans by giving "unfettered data access to DOGE regardless – despite its failure to show any need or any interest in complying with existing privacy safeguards, and all before we know for sure whether federal law countenances such access." Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined Jackson's opinion and Justice Elena Kagan said she also would have ruled against the administration. The Trump administration says DOGE needs the access to carry out its mission of targeting waste in the federal government. Musk had been focused on Social Security as an alleged hotbed of fraud. The entrepreneur has described it as a "Ponzi scheme" and insisted that reducing waste in the program is an important way to cut government spending. But US District Judge Ellen Hollander in Maryland found that DOGE's efforts at Social Security amounted to a "fishing expedition" based on "little more than suspicion" of fraud, and allowing unfettered access puts Americans' private information at risk. Her ruling did allow access to anonymous data for staffers who have undergone training and background checks, or wider access for those who have detailed a specific need. The Trump administration has said DOGE can't work effectively with those restrictions. Solicitor General D. John Sauer also argued that the ruling is an example of federal judges overstepping their authority and trying to micromanage executive branch agencies. The plaintiffs say it's a narrow order that's urgently needed to protect personal information. An appeals court previously refused to immediately to lift the block on DOGE access, though it split along ideological lines. 'Targeted snooping' Conservative judges in the minority said there's no evidence that the team has done any "targeted snooping" or exposed personal information. The lawsuit was originally filed by a group of labor unions and retirees represented by the group Democracy Forward. It's one of more than two dozen lawsuits filed over DOGE's work, which has included deep cuts at federal agencies and large-scale layoffs. The plaintiffs called the high court's order "a sad day for our democracy and a scary day for millions of people. Elon Musk may have left Washington, D.C., but his impact continues to harm millions of people." Liz Huston, a spokesperson for the White House, applauded the order. "The Supreme Court allowing the Trump Administration to carry out commonsense efforts to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse and modernize government information systems is a huge victory for the rule of law." Help us improve Le Monde in English Dear reader, We'd love to hear your thoughts on Le Monde in English! Take this quick survey to help us improve it for you. Take the survey The nation's court system has been ground zero for pushback to President Donald Trump's sweeping conservative agenda, with hundreds of lawsuits filed challenging policies on everything from immigration to education to mass layoffs of federal workers. In the other DOGE order handed down Friday, the justices extended a pause on orders that would require the team to publicly disclose information about its operations, as part of a lawsuit filed by a government watchdog group. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington argues that DOGE, which has been central to Trump's push to remake the government, is a federal agency and must be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. But the Trump administration says DOGE is just a presidential advisory body aimed at government cost-cutting, which would make it exempt from requests for documents under FOIA. The justices did not decide that issue Friday, but the conservative majority held that US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled too broadly in ordering documents be turned over to CREW.
France 24
18 hours ago
- France 24
From allies to enemies: the cost of a Musk-Trump split
Here is a look at his affairs as their White House partnership turns toxic, with billions of dollars in market value and government contracts hanging in the balance. Tesla The Tesla car company is the cornerstone of Musk's business empire and has suffered considerably since the entrepreneur dove into politics. The electric vehicle giant's stock has plummeted more than 20 percent since the start of the year, reflecting investor anxiety about Musk's increasingly polarizing public persona. The damage reached a fever pitch on Thursday when the Musk-Trump feud erupted out in the open. In a matter of hours, Tesla shed more than $150 billion in market capitalization, wiping $34 billion from Musk's personal fortune. The alliance with Trump was supposed to have been Tesla's golden ticket, even if the administration was going to scrap tax credits that had helped it become an automobile juggernaut. More importantly, Musk could count on Trump's blessing for his ultimate vision: putting fully autonomous vehicles on American roads. This ambition has been stymied by government regulation over the years, with authorities slowing efforts due to worries that the technology is not ready to hit the road at mass scale. The Trump administration was expected to lift these regulatory constraints -- a promise now in serious jeopardy. "Musk needs Trump because of the regulatory environment, and you can't have Trump go from friend to foe," said analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities. The administration also regulates vehicle design and would influence the mass production of robotaxis that Musk intends to launch in a pilot program in Austin, Texas, this month. Musk's hard-right political pivot has alienated the very customers Tesla needs most: environmentally conscious and liberal-leaning buyers who once saw the brand as aligned with their values. Some drivers have resorted to bumper stickers declaring their cars were purchased "before Elon went crazy." The damage is showing up in sales figures. In Europe, while overall electric vehicle sales climbed, Tesla's market share crashed 50 percent in April as attention focused on Musk's political activities and the company's aging product lineup. A recent Morgan Stanley survey said 85 percent of investors believe Musk's political involvement is actively harming Tesla's business. SpaceX A prolonged battle with Trump poses existential risks for SpaceX, Musk's space exploration company that has become NASA's most critical partner. SpaceX and NASA are deeply interdependent. SpaceX depends on government contracts worth tens of billions of dollars, while NASA relies on SpaceX for everything from astronaut transportation to satellite deployment. SpaceX's portfolio includes some of the most sensitive national security projects: launching astronauts to the International Space Station, building spy satellites and operating the Starlink satellite network. The financial windfall has been enormous, with a December share sale valuing SpaceX at $350 billion -- $140 billion more than just six months earlier, largely due to anticipated government largesse under Trump. In the heat of the clash on Thursday, Trump threatened to cut off all government contracts, while Musk said he would mothball the Dragon spacecraft, which is vital for ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station -- though he later walked back this threat. xAI Musk has huge plans for his xAI artificial intelligence company. He's angling to compete with OpenAI, the ChatGPT-maker that was co-founded by Musk a decade ago and is now steered by his archrival Sam Altman. Altman has his own inroads to the White House, where he signed a massive AI infrastructure initiative called the Stargate Project, which recently expanded to Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Initially dismissing Stargate as unrealistic, Musk later worked behind the scenes to undermine the project, reportedly telling investors that Trump wouldn't approve any expansion that excluded xAI. Adding another layer of complexity, Musk folded X (formerly Twitter) into xAI earlier this year. Musk's $44 billion acquisition in 2022 transformed the site into the go-to platform for conservatives, but Trump himself remains an infrequent user, preferring his own Truth Social platform for communication.
