Kanye West: ‘Moderator’ of rapper’s biggest Reddit forum says page has become ‘bloodbath’

A listed moderator of Kanye West’s biggest Reddit forum says the page has become a “bloodbath” following the rapper’s antisemitic comments.

During a 15 October appearance on the Drink Champs podcast, West, who legally changed his name to Ye, blamed “Jewish media” and “Jewish Zionists” for numerous alleged wrongdoings, saying that “Jewish people have owned the Black voice” and that “the Jewish community, especially in the music industry… they’ll take us and milk us till we die”.

The 45-year-old rapper also sparked controversy by claiming that George Floyd died from the drug fentanyl and that a police officer’s knee “wasn’t even on his neck like that”.

Due to Ye’s comments, a Reddit page called r/Kanye, which has over 700,000 followers, has been a constant source of interaction between the rapper’s fans.

Ian Slater, who is listed as a moderator of this page, was approached by Insider about how recent controversies have seen a change in the forum.

“The world as we know it is gone,” Slater said of the Ye subreddit, describing the artist’s diehard fans as citizens “with no country”. He also said Ye’s controversies have resulted in him converting to a “Charli XCX guy”.

However, Slater later admitted on The H3 Podcast that he was messing with the Insider reporter, and also said he had never been an active moderator of the account, despite being listed.

As per Slater, many Ye fans have left the forum due to the rapper’s recent comments, however, the ones who still remain, “they walk amongst this valley of ash and fire with eyes that do not see.”

“It’s a bloodbath out here,” Slater told Insider. “[Some] users are s**tposting their way to an early ban grave.”

The moderator also said that he’d be stepping down from his post.

Earlier this year, Adidas announced it was terminating its partnership with Ye over a series of antisemitic remarks by the rapper, causing him to lose his billionaire status overnight, according to Forbes.

The mother of Floyd’s daughter is also suing the Donda rapper for $250m (£224m) over his claim.

As of the beginning of November, Ye was in the process of buying alternative messaging platform Parler, which styles itself as an unbiased platform and is popular with prominent US conservative voices.

This article was amended on November 22 2022 to take into account Slater’s comments that he was not serious in his interactions with the Insider reporter and that despite being listed as a moderator, he had not played an active role in the moderation of the account.