Kanye West to Buy Conservative Social Platform Parler After Being Restricted on Twitter, Instagram

Nicholas Rice
·3 min read
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Kanye West attends the Christian Dior show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2015/2016 at Cour Carree du Louvre on March 6, 2015 in Paris, France.
Kanye West attends the Christian Dior show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2015/2016 at Cour Carree du Louvre on March 6, 2015 in Paris, France.

Rindoff/Dufour/Getty

Kanye West is acquiring Parler, a controversial conservative social media site, the company has announced.

In a statement on Monday, Parlement Technologies — Parler's parent company — said it was "pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement in principle for Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to acquire the Parler platform."

"The acquisition ensures Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome," the statement continued.

In a statement of his own, Parler CEO George Farmer added: "Ye's acquiring of Parler will strengthen our ability to create an uncancelable ecosystem. No one should have to self-censor out of uncertainty about which legal speech will get him or her banned. No individual or business should worry about being completely deplatformed, as Parler was, merely for the expression of opposing viewpoints. Groupthink is, and always has been, more dangerous than independent thinking.

"Parler will remain a place where everyone can think, listen, and speak freely. We will continue the fight against censorship, cancel culture, and authoritarianism."

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Parler
Parler

Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Parler

RELATED: Kanye West's Episode of LeBron James and Maverick Carter's The Shop Pulled Due to 'Hate Speech'

West's acquisition of Parlor comes about after the rapper, 45, had his Twitter account restricted earlier this month after one of his tweets violated the company's rules.

In a now-deleted message, West wrote that he was going to go "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE," among other antisemitic comments.

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That move by Twitter came about after Instagram restricted the Grammy Award winner's account and deleted content from his page after he violated the social media platform's rules and guidelines, according to NBC News and CNN.

A Meta spokesperson did not confirm to either outlet what content violated their rules, though one now-deleted post that West shared was condemned by many.

In it, the "Stronger" crooner shared a screenshot of a text exchange between himself and Sean "Diddy" Combs, which allegedly appeared to show West claiming that Combs, 52, was controlled by Jewish people. "Jesus is Jew," he wrote in the caption, reported NBC News.

RELATED VIDEO: Gigi Hadid Slams Kanye West for Attacking Fashion Editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson: 'You're a Bully'

Last week, producers for the unscripted series The Shop: Uninterrupted decided they will no longer run West's episode due to his use of hate speech. The show is co-executive produced by LeBron James, though he was not present in the taping.

"Yesterday we taped an episode of The Shop with Kanye West. Kanye was booked weeks ago and, after talking to Kanye directly the day before we taped, I believed he was capable of a respectful discussion and he was ready to address all his recent comments," a statement by executive producer Maverick Carter to PEOPLE began.

"Unfortunately, he used The Shop to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes. We have made the decision not to air this episode or any of Kanye's remarks," he continued. "While The Shop embraces thoughtful discourse and differing opinions, we have zero tolerance for hate speech of any kind and will never allow our channels to be used to promote hate."

Carter concluded, "I take full responsibility for believing Kanye wanted a different conversation and apologize to our guests and crew. Hate speech should never have an audience."

West previously drew criticism when he took part in a controversial two-part interview on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight, and also faced blowback when he wore a "White Lives Matter" shirt for his Yeezy show at Paris Fashion Week.