Photo Credit: Ye
Kanye West has entered into an agreement with Parlement Technologies to acquire Parler.
The proposed acquisition follows Ye’s Instagram and Twitter accounts being blocked for anti-semitic comments. The exact terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, though Parler says it expects the deal to close in Q4 2022. Ye’s ownership of Parler would follow the recent trend of celebrities buying social media platforms in the name of ‘free speech.’
“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” Ye said in a statement announcing the deal. The rapper has made headlines for wearing a ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt in public and defending his use of the slogan at a fashion show. Following that incident, Adidas announced it was reviewing its partnership with the rapper.
Kanye also beefed with The Gap in September, ending the two-year partnership over what his lawyer Nicholas Gravante called “substantial noncompliance.” The rapper later appeared on CNBC and said when he talked to the head executives, “it would be like I was on mute or something.”
Gap Inc. confirmed it was pulling the plug on its Yeezy partnership soon after those comments. “We wanted to address the headlines of today and the past several weeks related to Yeezy Gap. Simply put, while we share a vision of bringing high-quality, trend-forward utilitarian design to all people through unique omni experiences with Yeezy Gap, how we work together to deliver this vision was not aligned. And we are deciding to wind down the partnership,” President & CEO of Gap Brand, Mark Brietbard confirmed.
“You have to really give me the position to be Ye and let me do what I’m thinking, or I have to do the thinking somewhere else,” the rapper wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post. JPMorgan Chase did just that–as the national bank also severed ties with the rapper following his recent comments.