By The Associated Press
The rapper Ye is no longer buying right-leaning social media site Parler, the company said Thursday.
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, had offered to buy Parler in October. At the time, Ye and Parlement Technologies, which owns Parler, said the acquisition would be completed in the last three months of the year. The sale price and other details were not disclosed.
“This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November,” Parlement Technologies said in a statement Thursday. “Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community.”
Early Friday, Ye’s Twitter account was suspended after the rapper posted a picture of a swastika merged with the Star of David. New Twitter CEO Elon Musk confirmed the suspension in a tweet replying to a Ye post of an unflattering photo of the billionaire, which Ye called his “final tweet.”
“I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended,” Musk tweeted.
Parler is a small platform in the emerging space of right-leaning, far-right and libertarian social apps that promise little to no content moderation to weed out hate speech, racism and misinformation, among other objectionable content. None of the sites have come close to reaching mainstream status.
Parler launched in August 2018 but didn’t start picking up steam until 2020. It was kicked offline in January 2021 over its ties to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol earlier that month. A month after the attack, Parler announced a relaunch but didn’t return to Google Play until September of this year.
Ye has made a series of antisemitic comments in recent weeks, including praising Hitler in an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Thursday. Ye’s remarks led to his suspension from social media platforms, his talent agency dropping him and companies like Adidas cutting ties with him. The sportswear manufacturer has also launched an investigation into his conduct.
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