Singer, songwriter, producer, and designer Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has recently shaken up the media through his outlandish behavior and anti-semetic comments. A wide range of people, including influencers and fans, have been calling him out on his actions. These are some of the major controversies that have landed Ye in the media’s spotlight.

Dating

One of his scandals is his dating history. Ye was married to Kim Kardashian for six years and split in 2021. Together they had four children. After his breakup with Kardashian, his persona changed drastically. Although he was seen with Julia Fox, that didn’t stop him from publicly pursuing Kardashian. This lead to a back and forth feud between Pete Davidson and Ye over Kardashian in February of 2021. 

After the break up, Ye began to publicly bully Kim and Davidson by posting screen shots of private conversations on his instagram. After an initial wave of postings, Davidson responded in a text to Ye, saying, “It’s 8am and it don’t gotta be like this. Kim is literally the best mother I’ve ever met. What she does for those kids is amazing and you are so f—— lucky that she’s your kids mom.” This exchange of words was later posted on social media by West. While West has stopped posting their interactions online, the situation was never publicly resolved. 

Public relations

The content of his Instagram feed often changes, as he deletes old posts and makes new ones frequently. Currently his account is very uninterpretable, consisting of posts like a photo of his late mother and hints to his desire to open up schools for children called, “Donda Academy.”

Starting in October, Ye made anti semetic comments and offensive statements online. 

Ye has been partners with Adidas since 2013. After bombarding the internet with weeks of anti semetic remarks, Ye said, “I can say antisemitic s—- and Adidas cannot drop me,” After this, Adidas has released a statement breaking ties with Ye. This was a significant financial decision, as the contract was worth $1.5 Billion. 

2018-2022

Ye is very openly Christian, claiming that, “I perform for one audience, and that’s God.” With the release of “JESUS IS KING” in 2019, his faith took a turn and became very passionate. Ye denied After releasing iconic yet explicit albums like “Yeezus” and “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” “JESUS IS KING” came as a surprise to many fans because he had always denied Jesus. 

In an interview with Vogue, Ye says, “A lot of times, people try to point out the flaws of people who are Christian. But always remember, Christians are not Christ. We fall short. We all fall short of the glory.” 

With this shift comes Ye’s opinion on abortion and his activism against it. In 2020, during one of his presidential campaign rallies, Ye broke down while explaining his stance on abortion saying, “I almost killed my daughter.” He then proposed an alternative option to abortion called, “Plan A” instead of the typical “Plan B” contraceptive pill. Plan A consisted of Ye offering $50,000 per year to help single women parent their children. Ye did not want to criminalize abortion, but rather offer “an option” to women who need help. Ye’s “Plan A” was never put into action due to his loss in the 2020 election. 

Ye’s views on politics are very publicly announced and shown. His public friendship with former president Donald Trump spiked the media and he even stated that “I told y’all I didn’t vote, right? But if I would’ve voted, I would’ve voted for Trump,” following the 2016 presidential election. West and Trump were seen in the Trump Tower in 2016, and claimed to be discussing “life.” Though during an interview in 2020, he denounced his support for Trump saying that he is “taking the red hat off, with this interview.” 

Moving forward

Ye’s standing in the music industry has been able to keep him in good relations with some artists. Honorable C.N.O.T.E., an influential hip-hop producer, has been one of his defenders. “[He] just has to process his thoughts a lil more for non creatives to get him,” he tweeted. Ye is also excused by some of his fans, with most saying, “He made graduation,” though most of his relations have severed. 

While he still has a loyal fanbase, his controversies have become increasingly inexcusable. He may have a good standing in the music industry, but brands – Adidas, Foot Locker, Gap, and Balenciaga – have become unwilling to associate with the former successful billionaire.