As soon as a cultural icon, Kanye West’s Yeezy model has suffered a dramatic fall from grace. Now, one of many web’s most passionate fan communities is shutting down in protest. The Yeezys subreddit goes read-only from this level ahead.
Why? They are saying that the Yeezy title is tarnished. They referenced the truth that Yeezy launched White Lives Matter and Swastika shirts and mentioned that they don’t need to be a voice for hate. In accordance with the moderator of the Yeezys subreddit, over the following few weeks, they’ll be updating their wiki pages, after which as soon as that’s achieved, all submitted posts can be blocked.
Usually, r/yeezys is a spot to debate Kanye West’s model and trend collaborations, primarily the sneakers. In accordance with Reddit, the Yeezys subreddit has over 123,000 members, making it within the prime 2% of subreddits. The subreddit is thought for dimension guides, legit checks, and sneaker-related content material. Nonetheless, extra lately, the moderators have complained about having to reasonable extra hate posts. The moderators say they’re uninterested in being questioned about each submit they block.
In accordance with the moderators, it’s formally gone past separating the artwork from the artist. They are saying it’s time to pack it up as a result of the hate content material outperforms and outnumbers the standard Yeezy content material.
“It’s so over,” the feedback part reads on “Good Ass Sub”, the final bastion of the pro-Kanye West web. This subreddit and related Discord group of over 127,000 “goons” is the final portion of Reddit the place you could find data relating to Ye. Followers are battling the best way to separate Kanye West’s groundbreaking artistry from his troubling descent into white nationalism and hate speech, creating an unprecedented disaster inside his group.
The normal Kanye West and Yeezy subreddit communities appear to have moved on from a love for the artist and stay centered on the merchandise. There’s a famous lack of debate on the downfall of Kanye West or his latest actions. One of many prime posts on r/Kanye is an image of Taylor Swift declaring the subreddit an official Taylor Swift subreddit, noting, “We had a great run fellas.” With the Yeezy subreddit going read-only, r/Kanye and r/GoodAssSub are all that’s left of the beforehand vibrant group supporting Ye.
This can be a far cry from the Good Ass Sub subreddit the place followers are always hoping for a comeback even when they realize it isn’t coming. The group additionally does a great job of highlighting and calling out the artist’s dangerous conduct. Ye has replied to Good Ass Sub posts on X and posted screenshots of the subreddit earlier than, displaying that he does take note of the group.
Members of the Good Ass Sub imagine in holding Kanye West accountable. It’s very similar to a household in that they see somebody they love destroying themselves and need it to cease. This doesn’t cease the group from mourning what as soon as was and having fun with the music they know and love. On the finish of the day, it’s important to settle for that it’s okay to be unhappy that your favourite artist is having an excessive disaster of 1 kind or one other, and it’s additionally okay to be offended that he’s espousing heinous and unacceptable views.
Since Ye’s “pivot” to white nationalism, there was a collective mourning of the artist locally. Feedback like “it’s so over” are delicate in comparison with the criticisms doled out by Ye’s staunchest supporters. There may be outright hatred locally for the likes of Milo Yiannopoulos and Nick Fuentes, members of the white supremacist and alt-right actions which have apparently swayed Ye.
What occurred to Kanye West? It began with appearances alongside Candace Owens, the founding father of the “Blexit” motion championed by Charlie Kirk’s Turning Level USA. The purpose of ‘Blexit’ is the black exit from the Democratic Occasion.
Quick ahead to immediately, and you may see the development Ye has made to outright white nationalism. In deleted tweets, he has sported swastika t-shirts and proven off an iced-out swastika necklace to point out his dedication to the hate image additional. In a submit titled “Oh hell nah” on Good Ass Sub, you possibly can see Ye together with his swastika necklace sitting subsequent to self avowed white supremacist Nick Fuentes. In contrast to different artists who’ve navigated controversies—like Michael Jackson or R. Kelly—the dimensions and visibility of Ye’s extremist shift mark an unprecedented public downfall.
What does it imply for the artwork now that the artist is “absolutely cooked?” The rumors that Kanye West has been abusing nitrous from a dentist had been all however confirmed in a latest audio clip from the artist. Ye raps not solely about being a nazi however about abusing nitrous from his dentist. Now, followers are left to tell apart the horrible issues an artist is saying from the music they know and love. To many of those followers, it’s not a typical day with out listening to classics like “By means of the Wire” and “Runaway”.
Kanye West nonetheless has 65 million month-to-month listeners on Spotify. He’s undoubtedly one of the crucial revered artists of our era. But, his hatred has pushed him down a path the place even his most enthusiastic supporters can’t comply with him. How do you parse the generation-altering hit music with one of the crucial well-known crash-outs in historical past?
Ye has been open up to now about his struggles with psychological sickness. One might moderately counsel that this obsession with nazism is merely a horrible consequence of exacerbated psychological sickness. Given the artist’s wealth and isolation, it may very well be years of exercise like this from the artist previously generally known as Kanye West earlier than he seeks skilled assist – if he does in any respect.
Whereas Ye has brazenly mentioned his psychological well being challenges, it’s crucial to not conflate psychological sickness with extremist beliefs. Numerous individuals stay with psychological well being points with out resorting to dangerous ideologies. Ye’s scenario highlights how unchecked privilege and untreated sickness can tragically intersect.
With regards to Ye, we will solely hope that he receives the assistance he wants and we will get “the Previous Kanye” again some day. It’s additionally essential to just accept that that day could by no means come. Nonetheless, it’s clear that the artist is dropping lifelong followers day-after-day, and for good motive.
At a March 2025 interview with DJ Akademiks, Kanye West wore a black KKK outfit, additional displaying how unwell the artist continues to be. Throughout the interview, Ye commented that he needed to go outdoors in costume however couldn’t with out concern of being admitted to a hospital.
There could by no means be an “Previous Kanye” comeback. But if this saga reveals one factor, followers can evolve, too—holding artists accountable whereas holding on to the items of tradition that formed them.
