Rapper Kanye West caused a stir at Paris Fashion Week with a t-shirt slogan. The 45-year-old wore a long-sleeved T-shirt with the slogan “White Lives Matter” on Monday. What he wanted to express was left open by Kanye West, as reported by the industry journal “Variety” and the music magazine “Rolling Stone”.
The saying was also seen on the catwalk. The anti-racism organization Anti-Defamation League classifies the sentence as a racist reaction to the “Black Lives Matter” movement, which campaigns against violence against black people.
The appearance was discussed controversially and above all critically on the Internet. A number of observers not only bumped into the T-shirt, but even more so about West’s company: The rapper came hand in hand with the right-wing conservative political commentator Candace Owens. She also wore the correspondingly labeled T-shirt, later she shared a photo of the joint appearance on Instagram.
The alliance with Owens is not only politically but also privately sensitive: Owens, a firm supporter of ex-US President Donald Trump, recently described West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian as a “prostitute” – an allusion to her career start, who also was promoted by private sex videos.
Kanye West keeps making political statements. He was one of a few popular artists to publicly endorse former US President Donald Trump. In 2018 he met Trump at the White House wearing a baseball hat with his campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”. In 2020, West ran for the office of US President himself. However, due to missed registration deadlines, he did not make it onto the ballot in most states.
In addition, the artist often causes a stir with bizarre messages on his social channels. According to media reports, but also according to his family, he has been suffering from bipolar disorder for years.
