Kanye West's 'White Lives Matter' Yeezy Shirts

Overview

Kanye West's "White Lives Matter" Yeezy Shirts refers to rapper Kanye West unveiling shirts that say "White Lives Matter" as part of his Yeezy Season 9 Paris Fashion Week show on October 3rd, 2022. The rapper drew flack for promoting what some believe to be a reactionary white supremacist slogan made to counter the Black Lives Matter movement. Kanye also invited conservative influencer Candace Owens and was pictured with her at the show. The event drew discussions after soul and R&B singer Lauryn Hill's daughter, Selah Marley, modeled in the runway show while wearing a "White Lives Matter" shirt. Kanye also took to social media to criticize fashion editor and director Gabriella Karefa-Johnson.

Background

On October 3rd, 2022, Twitter^[1] user @Blu_Alexia_ posted a photo from Kanye West's Yeezy Paris Fashion Week runway show, where a Black model can be seen wearing a shirt that says "White Lives Matter." The Twitter user posted the photo alongside a caption that read, "Kanye West making Black models wear 'white lives matter' shirts is a culmination of his anti-blackness and his immersion in white supremacy ideologies and methods. Disgusting." The tweet gathered nearly 30,000 likes and 5,000 retweets in three days (seen below).

Soon after the aforementioned tweet was posted, conservative political activist Candance Owens^[2] posted a photo of her and Kanye posing to display their shirts, both of which also had "White Lives Matter" written on the back. Candace Owen's tweet gathered over 100,000 likes and 15,000 retweets in three days (seen below).

Online Reactions

Reviews from attendees at the show rolled in soon after the shirts debuted on the Paris runway. One of the first reactions came in the form of a series of cryptic quotes from Jaden Smith on October 3rd, 2022, where he said "I had to dip lol," "True Leaders Lead" and "Black Lives Matter, " the last of which received over 200,000 likes in three days (seen below).^[3] At the following day's Chanel event, British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful was quoted^[4] to have called the show “inappropriate” and “insensitive, given the state of the world."

On October 4th, rapper Boosie then took to Twitter^[5] and posted a series of tweets criticizing Kanye's actions, going on to post a photoshopped picture of Kanye with lighter skin.^[6] The tweets gathered 4,000 and 19,000 likes, respectively, in two days (seen below).

Kanye vs. Gabriella Karefa-Johnson Instagram Conflict

Following the show on October 3rd, 2022, Vogue contributor, fashion editor and director Gabriella Karefa-Johnson posted her reaction to the show on Instagram and dissected what she called "pure violence" in a series of Instagram Stories (seen below).^[7]

On October 4th, Kanye then took to his Instagram to reaffirm his message and criticize the "Black Lives Matter" movement for being a "scam" (seen below, left).^[8] He also reacted to Karefa-Johnson's criticisms by posting now-deleted photos of her, saying "This is not a fashion person. You speak on Ye imma speak on you" (seen below, middle). He also posted a close-up of her shoes with the comment, "I KNOOOOOOOW ANNNNA HATES THESE BOOTS," as a reference to Anna Wintour (seen below, right).^[9]

Kanye's post received notable backlash from several people involved in the fashion industry, including model Gigi Hadid, who left a scathing response on the rapper's post in defense of the fashion editor (seen below, left).^[10] On October 4th, Vogue Magazine also came forward to defend its editor, releasing a statement on Instagram condemning Kanye's actions. The post gathered over 400,000 likes in two days (seen below, right).^[8]

Selah Marley Modelling "White Lives Matter" Shirt

Internet users and fashion enthusiasts also reacted en masse to Jamaican singer Bob Marley's granddaughter and R&B soul artist Lauryn Hill's daughter Selah Marley modeling a White Lives Matter shirt in Kanye's show. On October 3rd, 2022, Twitter^[11] user @NupeFiasco posted a tweet commenting on the irony of the situation, gathering over 70,000 likes and 7,000 retweets in three days (seen below, left). Also on October 3rd, Twitter^[12] user @cibleezy commented on the irony of Kanye's worries about his white wife corrupting his Black children while putting the daughter of an iconic Black artist in a racially insensitive shirt. The tweet gathered over 3,000 likes and 300 retweets in three days (seen below, right).

Selah then responded to the backlash via an Instagram story, accusing critics of being "stuck in a hive mind mentality" (seen below).

Kanye West on the Death of George Floyd

On October 16th, 2022, the Twitter^[13] account of Kurrco tweeted a clip from the podcast in which Ye reiterated his belief that George Floyd had died from fentanyl rather than from the pressure of the police officer's knee. Ye's point reflected a prominent right-wing conspiracy theory that was disproven by autopsy reports released by the New York Times.^[14] Kurrco's tweet received roughly 9.9 million views and 47,900 likes in one day (shown below).

Kanye West says George Floyd passed away because of fentanyl and that the cop’s knee “wasn’t even on his neck like that” pic.twitter.com/sVKy3VK35O

— Kurrco (@Kurrco) October 16, 2022

The aforementioned clip inspired discourse, garnering multiple critiques and new proclamations of Kanye's seemingly radicalized current beliefs. For instance, on October 16th, 2022, verified Twitter^[15] user JustinTinsley tweeted that the "fentanyl" theory that Ye was reiterating was "clearly a racist talking point, debunked in court, like we all didn’t see the video for ourselves and like it didn’t start worldwide protests." JustinTinsley's tweet received roughly 71,100 likes in one day.

Later on October 16th, 2022, due to Ye's comments on George Floyd's death, the family of George Floyd reportedly started to consider suing Ye for his comments, which could be perceived as defamation of character. This was reported on by the Daily Mail^[16] and tweeted^[17] about by No Jumper, gaining roughly 11,400 likes in one day (shown below).

Ian Connor Distributes 'White Lives Matter' Shirts On Skid Row

On October 16th, accused serial rapist^[18] Ian Connor distributed Kanye West's "White Lives Matter" shirts to various homeless people on Los Angeles's Skid Row. He uploaded a video to Twitter^[19] where he can be heard saying, "Courtesy of Kanye West!" while distributing the merchandise. The video gathered over 1,000 likes in two weeks (seen below).

Load 1 – Skid Röw pic.twitter.com/F9Fh4KGlzp

— Ian Connor (@souljaian) October 17, 2022

On October 20th, TikToker^[20] @beauty2thestreetz, a non-profit serving the homeless community in LA, posted a video distributing plain black t-shirts in exchange for the "White Lives Matter" shirts distributed by Connor. The post gathered over 200,000 views and 40,000 likes in six days (seen below, left). Also on October 20th, the TikToker^[21] uploaded another video admonishing West and Connor's actions, saying "All I can say is not in my backyard, Mr. West." This video gathered over 400,000 views and 90,000 likes in six days (seen below, right).

Candace Owens's Influence Over Kanye

On April 21st, 2018, Kanye tweeted^[22] "I love the way Candace Owens thinks, gathering 60,000 likes in five years (seen below).

Kanye and Owens continued to maintain a sporadic professional relationship for consecutive years, with him posting photos of her book and attending a screening of her documentary "The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM" on October 12th, 2022. On October 16th, Ye declared that Floyd had died in 2020 from fentanyl use, not police brutality.^[23]

On October 17th, @NBCNews posted a tweet that gathered over 1,000 likes in a week. The tweet was regarding Parler's announcement of Kanye's slated acquisition of the social media company (seen below).^[24] The news came days after Kanye was banned from both Instagram and Twitter. Candace Owen's husband, George Farmer, is the CEO of Parler.

Following Kanye's various inflammatory remarks in the month of October 2022, many people on the internet began discussing the vast influence Candace Owens appeared to have over Kanye. Internet users and fans of the rapper also accused the conservative activist of taking advantage of a person known to suffer from mental illness.

On October 25th, Twitter^[25] user @adam22 posted a tweet regarding Candace and Kanye, gathering over 100,000 likes in a week (seen below).

Also on October 25th, Twitter user @big_business_^[26] posted a tweet commenting on Kanye buying Parler, gathering over 50,000 likes in a week (seen below, left). On October 26th, @wkamaubell^[27] posted a tweet commenting on how Kanye's failed business partnerships might affect his capacity to buy Parler, gathering over 6,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

^[1] Twitter – @Blu_Alexia_

^[2] Twitter – @RealCandaceO

^[3] Twitter – @Jaden

^[4] Vanity Fair – Edward Enninful

^[5] Twitter – BOOSIEOFFICIAL

^[6] Twitter – BOOSIEOFFICIAL

^[7] Instagram – @gabriellak_j

^[8] Instagram – Vogue

^[9] Instagram – @kanyewest

^[10] Instagram – @kanyewest

^[11] Twitter – NupeFiasco

^[12] Twitter – cibleezy

^[13] Twitter – @Kurrco

^[14] NYT – Despite Other Factors, Police Caused Floyd’s Death, Medical Examiner Says

^[15] Twitter – @JustinTinsley

^[16] Daily Mail – George Floyd's family threaten to SUE Kanye West for saying he died of fentanyl overdose

^[17] Twitter – @nojumper

^[18] Rolling Stone – West WLM Accused Serial Rapist

^[19] Twitter – souljaian

^[20] TikTok – @beauty2thestreetz

^[21] TikTok – @beauty2thestreetz

^[22] Twitter – kanyewest

^[23] Washington Post – Candace Owens Kanye West

^[24] Twitter – @NBCNews

^[25] Twitter – @adam22

^[26] Twitter – @big_business_

^[27] Twitter – @wkamaubell