Why was Kanye banned on Elon Musk’s X: Swastika shirts, antisemitism, anti-Taylor Swift rant, pro-Diddy posts & more

American rapper and businessman Kanye West, 47, who now goes by ‘Ye’, has seen his X (formerly known as Twitter) account deactivated, following a series of concerning activities.

From listing a Swastika shirt for sale on Shopify, to hate filled rants against Jews and Taylor Swift, posts supporting alleged rapist Sean Diddy Combs, claiming autism as reason for being ‘weird’, posting naked pictures of wife Bianca Censori and more, Kanye West's X account has reportedly been banned by Elon Musk, according to multiple reports.

On February 10, his X profile displayed the message “this account doesn’t exist.” Further, the account did not turn up in searches on X's official website early on February 11.

Kanye's X Account Deactivated/ Banned/ Logged Out

On February 9 Ye claimed his X posts were being limited, posting: “MY TWITTER REACH HAS BEEN LIMITED SO I AM NOT ALLOWED TO TREND DOING SUPER BOWL I AM SETTING UP A DISCORD CHANEL ON MY WEBSITE WELCOME TO AMERICA.” (sic)

Later, a statement by Ye's Yeezy brand's Milo Yiannopoulos confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the rapped had deactivated his account. “Ye has deactivated his X account for the time being. Journalists with requests for comment about this or any other matter pertaining to Ye may direct them to my firm at my@trnt.la.”

“I'm logging out of Twitter. I appreciate Elon for allowing me to vent. It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board,” Ye wrote in his final post. According to an AFP report, it was not immediately clear if Ye deactivated the account himself or if X took it down and X did not respond to questions about the same.

According to an NDTV report, Elon Musk later confirmed that Ye's account had been classified as ‘NSFW’ (not safe for work) and the public “won't be seeing” account due to his posts.

We take a look at the series of worse-to-worst online decisions by Kanye.

Sale of Swastika Shirts, Antisemitic Rants

During the NFL's Super Bowl broadcast on February 9, Kanye pushed an advert for yeezy.com, which featured only one item on February 10 — a white shirt with a black Nazi swastika in its center, according to a Bloomberg report. It added that the site’s source code showed it was hosted by Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify.

Notably, the company removed its clause on “hateful content” in 2024, as per the report. Shopify and Yeezy.com did not reply to queries, it added.

Prior to this, Ye also shared posts on X praising Hitler. In 2022, his X account was temporarily suspended for eight months after posting a symbol of the swastika, used by Hitler's Nazi party.

More recently, West also went on an antisemitic rant after ‘Friends’ actor David Schwimmer, 58, appealed to Elon Musk to ban Kanye from the platform. Schwimmer, who is a Jew, shared a series of pictures on his Instagram handle featuring West. The first picture of the rapper's posts on X had "I AM A NAZI" written over it.

A day later, West once again went on an anti-Semitic rant on X. “THE JEWS CLAIM TO BE SO OPPRESSED THEN TRY TO OPPRESS ME AND ELONS FREEDOM OF SPEECH,” (sic) read one of his posts.

He also said that Elon Musk had stopped following him on X, adding: “SINCE IM GETTING KICKED OFF TWITTER SOON. EVERYBODY IS A NAZI TILL A REAL NAZI PULLS UP.” (sic)

Other Controversies: Bianca Censori, Autism, Taylor Swift rants, Diddy…

• On February 7, Ye went on a multi-hour rant on X, urging United States President Donald Trump to “free” Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, the disgraced rapper, who is in jail for alleged sex trafficking, rape, racketeering and prostitution.
• In his barrage of posts on X during the Super Bowl, Ye also targetted long-time nemesis Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar. He wrote, referring to Swift, “IF ITS ABOUT THE CULTURE ... WHY ARE WE LETTING TAYLOR SWIFT BE SEEN ON TV SINGING A SONG ABOUT TAKING A BLACK MAN DOWN AND ACCUSING OF THINGS THAT CAN TAKE A BLACK MAN DOWN FOR LIFE.” (sic)
• He then blasted Super Bowl Halftime star Lamar, saying “KENDRICK IS BEING USED BY THESE WHITE PEOPLE AND JEWS AND SO AM I.”
• After the Grammy 2025 debacle, he also shared his photo with wife on Instagram, writing, “ME AND MY WIFE THE MOST GOOGLED PERSON ON THE PLANET.” (sic) He posted an uncut and unblurred version of Bianca Censori’s viral video in one of his Instagram Stories. At the same time, he shared high online trends about his wife.
• According to a CNN report, on “The Download” podcast with Justin Laboy, Ye claimed he was previously misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, but has found out he has autism. “I went to this doctor … My wife took me to do that because she said, ‘Something about your personality doesn’t feel like it’s bipolar, I’ve seen bipolar before.’ And I’ve come to find that it’s really a case of autism that I have,” West said. He added that he hasn't taken his bipolar medication since.

(With inputs from Agencies)