Mercurial rapper Kanye West announced on Tuesday that he’s decided to leave politics for the time being. On Twitter, West let it be known that he was being used to spread messages he doesn’t believe in.
It was only two weeks ago that West was in the White House sitting with and hugging President Trump and wearing a red MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat.
Now, that silly side-show is all over. As commentator Ben Shapiro has said from the beginning, “Live by the Kanye, die by the Kanye.”
“My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative,” West tweeted on Tuesday.
West is also moving on from Candace Owens, the young woman who has ignited the growing movement of African-Americans leaving the Democrat Party. The movement of blacks exiting the Dems has become known as “Blexit,” which plays on Brexit — the 2016 election where Britain voted to leave the European Union.
“I introduced Candace to the person who made the logo and they didn’t want their name on it so she used mine,” West also tweeted. “I never wanted any association with Blexit. I have nothing to do with it.”
A clearly distraught Owens responded to the controversy with a statement today. “If I had to imagine what it would feel like to have a bullet pierce my heart, it would be exactly like the moment I learned Kanye told the world he felt I had used him,” Owens wrote. “I wouldn’t wish the way I felt last night upon my worst enemy.”
Owens took responsibility for any misunderstanding of West’s role in Blexit. “I never once said that Kanye designed the t-shirts for BLEXIT. This is a lie that seems to have made its way around the world; a lie that I would like to again correct for the record,” she wrote. “He simply never designed them.”
“I am a leader, and I would like to lead in this moment by stating that any and all confusion relating to this topic is therefore my fault, entirely,” Owens wrote.
West helped to launch Owens’ star earlier this year with a seven-word tweet, which said only, “I love the way Candace Owens thinks.”
Owens had been on conservatives’ radar since last July when she released a YouTube video called “Mom, Dad…I’m a Conservative” in which she playfully describes “coming out” as an African-American conservative to her parents. That video was followed by others, and Owens began moving in the conservative web circle.
West’s tweet then launched her on a meteoric rise up the conservative ladder including doing many spots on Fox News and CNN. She is currently the communications director for Turning Point USA, a conservative non-profit that educates students about free-market values.
Owens may be sad today, but she should take heart: West may have been using her more than she ever dreamed of “using” him.
It’s generally all about business for West, and the entrepreneur likely just saw the MAGA hat as an opportunity, instead of a political statement.
But business hasn’t been good for West recently.
West, who is also a fashion designer, has three new sneaker styles coming out this month through a deal with Adidas. His current brand, Yeezys, are selling poorly. Trade paper Footwear News reports that “Kanye’s behavior has also had a large impact on consumer’s perception of him.” So, Kanye’s shoes aren’t selling to his core audience, namely black, urban males.
His album sales are also off. His last album Ye sold only 60,000 copies and his new one entitled “Yandhi” is set to hit record stores on November 23. West simply can’t be bothered with having any core beliefs that might hurt him financially. So the rapper threw Owens and Trump under his tour bus.
Despite being upset by West’s betrayal, Owens plans to keep a steady course on Blexit. “#BLEXIT will happen because the universe and God are on our side,” Owens wrote.
West’s departure was tragic news for Owens and Blexit, but in the end it’s for the best. The Blexit movement is long overdue as the Black community has been used and lied to by Democrats for five decades now. The last thing such a worthy proposition as Blexit needs is to be associated with a schizophrenic entertainer with no core beliefs besides the making of money.
“Live by the Kanye, die by the Kanye,” Ben Shapiro says. Better to live without the Kanye. It’s far less of a headache.
Photo of Kanye West: Matthew Field via Wikimedia
