Rapper Kanye West, known for his divisive and incendiary comments, is buying Parler, a right-wing platform dedicated to providing conservatives a forum for hate, vaccine lies, conspiracy theories and racism. Twitter and Istagram recently shut down West’s accounts after an antisemitic tirade. (The New York Times, October 17, 202, by Tiffany Hsu and Jenny Gross)
It is yet to be determined if West can rebound from his recent extremist rants. Several business partners are reluctant to continue working with him. Adidas is reviewing its partnership. West ended his collaboration with Gap and JP Morgan Chase announced they closed West’s account with them. (Los Angeles Times, October 17, 2022, by August Brown and Anousha Sakoui)
Brian Fung in CNN Business, October 18, 2022, writes, “Buying Parler could make West the latest celebrity owner of a social media platform after former President Donald Trump’s bid to win over conservatives with Truth Social and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposed acquisition of Twitter. It also highlights how a small group of wealthy men, some of whom were banned or suspended themselves for incendiary remarks, are looking to own social media platforms in an effort to bolster what they call ‘free speech.'”