Kanye West wanted to shock, it succeeded, but not necessarily as he envisioned.
To present his new Yeezy collection at Paris Fashion Week, the rapper arrived wearing a flocked t-shirt with the slogan "White Lives Matter".
This sentence is the response of the far right and American neo-Nazis to the Black Lives Matter movement, which defends the civil rights of blacks, especially in the United States.
To support his message, Ye was in the company of Candace Owens, an ultra-conservative African-American columnist, supporter of Donald Trump and initiator of “Blexit”.
This movement (named after Brexit) is aimed at African Americans to encourage them to turn away from the Democratic Party, for which they vote mainly, and join the Conservative ranks.
The rapper also split a few tweets, including one, since deleted, in which he describes the Black Lives Matter movement as a “scam” and congratulates himself on having “ended” it with his parade.
A failed ready-made
In fact, there was not much talk about fashion during Kanye West's visit to Paris Fashion Week.
Some guests left, like Jaden Smith, the son of Will Smith.
Nobody talked about her 30 looks presented on the catwalk, except, of course, of this famous tee-shirt and its slogan on the back.
On the front is a photo of John Paul II with the phrase “Seguiremos tu ejemplo”, or “We will follow your example”.
Vogue
editor
Gabriella Karefa-Johnson has responded with a series of Instagram Stories, in which she explains that Kanye West's post is "deeply insulting, violent and dangerous".
“I think I understood what he was trying to do – he thought it was Duchamp.
It was not”, she began, in reference to the artist Marcel Duchamp, famous in particular for the ready-made, which diverts a manufactured object from its initial use.
“The idea that white supremacy is in danger of extinction is what justifies mass incarcerations, mass killings, and, effectively, the advent of slavery,” she added, denouncing “ the great irresponsibility” of Kanye West by offering a platform to “extremists”.
Insults and harassment
The creator's response clearly did not live up to the debate he himself initiated.
Kanye West posted a photo of the journalist on his Instagram account to attack, in the caption, his appearance and his clothing choices.
Insults that scandalized in particular Gigi Hadid.
“You wish you had a fraction of his intellect.
You have no idea haha… If there really is any interest in your assholes, she might be the only person who can save you.
As if the "honor" of being invited to your show should prevent someone from giving their opinion?
Lol.
You are a bully and a jester,” the model wrote in the comments.
Vogue
magazine
also lent its support to its journalist, denouncing the harassment of the rapper.
“She was personally targeted and harassed.
This is unacceptable,” reads the magazine’s tweet, announcing that Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and Kanye West had an interview.
pic.twitter.com/qhedLksfl2
— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) October 4, 2022
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An appointment confirmed by the rapper, who has since erased his insults, to replace them with a tirade all in capital.
He explains that the journalist is his "sister" and that they exchanged "for two hours", the whole being "filmed by Baz Luhrmann".
From Donald Trump to white supremacists
“We apologized to each other for the impression we each made on the other.
(…) She didn't agree, I didn't agree, we didn't agree.
At least we both love Ferdie (an Italian restaurant in New York) and fashion,” he concluded.
For her part, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson thanked those who supported her during what she compared to a game of “Mortal Kombat”.
“One thing about me: I will always speak my mind, and I will always try to honor my truth.
My opinions belong to me and I assume them “, she added in Story on Instagram.
For several years now, Kanye West has appeared alongside the most extreme fringe to the right of the American political spectrum, among other things by supporting Donald Trump.
His statements go hand in hand with the ideas conveyed by these movements.
In particular, he claimed that black people had not suffered slavery, but that it was a “choice” on their part.
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