Maybe Kanye's Instagram Suspension Was Too Lenient
This article was published on March 17 and updated on March 18 to reflect Kanye's return to Instagram
Great, Kanye West's buffoonery got him booted off Instagram, if only for 24 hours. But maybe the rapper ought to stay off social media for even longer — what about forever?
In case you need catching up: the DONDA rapper has made Instagram his platform of choice over the past few months, first using it as a vehicle to promote DONDA 2 and YEEZY GAP drops and then repurposing it as a battering ram to attack Pete Davidson, Kim Kardashian, D.L. Hughley, Billie Eilish and more.
What seemed like crude self-promotion via viral tantrums — perhaps engineered by Kanye's new social media team, perhaps not — escalated to viscous outbursts with real world effects, like when Davidson was tormented off Instagram.
Kanye's victim narrative was publicly refuted by Kardashian, Eilish, recent target Trevor Noah, and others but the stream of swiftly-deleted Instagram posts was ceaseless, only infrequently slowing while Ye was preoccupied like, say, while spending time with new girlfriend Chaney Jones.
Weeks of random flare-ups came to a head on March 16, when Ye doubled down Hughley and began fixating on Noah, who had just done a segment on The Daily Show about Ye's public harassment campaign against Kardashian.
In his posts targeting Noah, Kanye called the comedian a slur several times in a long, rambling message mostly free from grammar.
Then, silence.
Meta, Instagram's parent company, eventually confirmed that Ye had been suspended from its platform for a day, though his page was left untouched rather than taken down.
Weird that Kanye hasn't touched his Twitter account in the meantime; it's remained in disuse since November 2020 (remember when Kanye was running for President?).
Over on GAP's Instagram page, users were calling for the fast-fashion giant to cut ties with Kanye.
Fat chance: GAP's doing fine financially and it'll take a lot more than some social media drama to get a corporation to make burgers outta its cash cow.
And, of course, a day later, comments from Ye supporters now far outweigh the criticism.
But why not permanently boot Kanye off Instagram?
Yeah, yeah, I'm sure all the engagement's good for Meta's business (I wonder how many people linger on Instagram just to keep up with the Kanye) but, seriously, dude has only gotten more toxic over the past couple months.
From calling for his fans to yell "SKETE" at Davidson to loudly demanding an apology from Eilish for something she didn't do, this "self-righteous Christian" has a habit of basically weaponizing social media.
Ye's disastrous Presidential campaign was promoted almost exclusively on Twitter, for instance (again, I'm surprised but glad he isn't back on the bird app).
Mental illness is no joke, especially if it's making Kanye act out online.
But Davidson has provided far more eloquent commentary on similar struggles than Ye.
Plus, it's not like being online makes anyone actually feel better.
It also seems like Kanye can pretty much just stop using these platforms when he doesn't feel like it (again, thinking of that vacant Twitter).
When he returned to Instagram on March 18, in fact, Kanye swept his Instagram page clean, leaving it blank. Not saying Ye does or doesn't know what he's doing, but definitely seems like he's aware that it's a good look to pipe down for now.
Then, there's the fact that his narratives also don't quite hold up: one of Ye's big claims is that he's being prevented from seeing his kids but he took son Saint (dressed in a matching outfit) to a basketball game on March 16, the same day he went on a fresh Instagram tear.
And, yes, two sides and whatever but, still, the point remains: what good comes of Kanye being let back onto Instagram?
Seems like it's better for him, for his social circle, and for the general public for Kanye to just log off.
