Kanye West called Black Lives Matter “a scam” in a new Instagram post, hours after causing a stir by displaying “White Lives Matter” t-shirts at his Yeezy presentation at Paris Fashion Week.
The 45-year-old rapper and fashion designer came under fire after he and conservative commentator Candace Owens appeared on his show on Monday wearing tops emblazoned with the words “White Lives Matter,” and models were also seen wearing the slogan.
West’s review of the Black Lives Matter message angered many who have advocated for social justice. For years, Black Lives Matter supporters have protested against systemic racism and police brutality, but some white supremacists have distorted the group’s well-known slogan to adopt racist views.
However, the rap star didn’t seem fazed the day after the show, when he took to his Instagram account to lambast the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam,” he wrote in a text post. “Now it’s on. No problem.”
West also seemed to respond to criticism from the Moda contributing editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who was at the show and called the controversial runway display “pure violence.”
Hours after Karefa-Johnson shared her damning assessment on Instagram, West posted a screenshot of her profile on the image-sharing platform, along with a caption that read, “Processor broke when computer can’t read code. This is a droid.”
She also posted a photo of Karefa-Johnson and wrote: “This is not a fashion person. You talk about Ye Ima, she talks about you. Ask Trevor Noah.”
“‘Diversity & Equity’ Hiring,” Owens wrote in the comments section. “These droids are everywhere.”
Karefa-Johnson had posted screenshots of the self-described “gut reaction” she had to West’s show in messages she said she sent to a friend.
“What I feel is that he is not fully aware of the difference between appropriating BLM and subverting the ‘Make America Great Again’ hat,” she wrote of West, who was once a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump. “Although I do not agree with his thesis there.”
Karefa-Johnson continued: “I understand your idea that the hat was made-up. And its value was intrinsic to the context: the artist’s signature, when he used it, Trump is racist, when worn for Kanye it’s about liberation.”
“He forgot to realize the importance of the object when he tried to extend that kind of subversion to the BLM slogan,” he said. “One is object, one is ethos.”
“I know what he was trying to do. I was trying to illustrate a dystopian world in the future when whiteness might become extinct or at least be in enough danger to demand defense,” she said.
“I guess I understood what he was trying to do: he thought it was [Duchampian]. It wasn’t,” she said in a caption on the post. “He did not land and was deeply offensive, violent and dangerous.”
Continuing her flow of messages, Karefa-Johnson wrote that “the danger is that, this very premise, the idea that white supremacy is in danger of extinction [is] which justifies mass incarceration, mass murder, even the advent of slavery.”
“The idea that blackness must be extinguished because surely [supersede] whites in power and influence if given the chance, and it is grossly irresponsible to provide the most dangerous extremists with this kind of fictional narrative.”
Karefa-Johnson also noted that students from West’s California-based Donda Academy school choir were singing at the show, saying it “felt like the divide between indoctrination and education had never been so fine.” .
In a follow-up post, Karefa-Johnson, who shared video footage of herself saying “oh no” disapprovingly on the show, clarified her views on West’s messages.
She wrote: “It has become clear that some viewers think my previous post containing my evolving thoughts on Kanye’s show was some sort of distorted justification for the incredibly irresponsible and dangerous act of sending ‘W*** Lives Matter’ t-shirts ‘. a track
“Please understand: it wasn’t. The t-shirts that this man conceived, produced and shared with the world are pure violence. There is no excuse, there is no art here. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear, I thought. Yes. I think if you were to ask Kanye, he’d say there’s art and revolution and all that stuff on that shirt. There isn’t.”
“As we get through the trauma of this moment, especially those of us who suffered in that room, let’s have some grace for each other,” Karefa-Johnson said.
Globe Live Media has reached out to representatives of West, Karefa-Johnson and Black Lives Matter for comment.