Kanye West to buy right-wing social media platform Parler

Rapper says the move is to protect 'conservative opinions'

Kanye West has been in the news after he made a series of anti-Semitic comments. Adidas has severed ties with the rapper. AP

West at the BET Awards 2022 in Los Angeles in June. Reuters

The rapper at the Givenchy spring/summer 2023 fashion show in Paris in October. AFP

West performs at Rolling Loud New York at Citi Field in September. Getty Images / AFP

With his former wife Kim Kardashian at the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards in 2019. AP

West on stage at the Coachella festival in California in 2019. AP

The rapper holds a rally for his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, in July 2020. Reuters

West wears a Make America Great Again cap to meet president Donald Trump in the White House in 2018. AFP

He watches basketball team the Golden State Warriors play the Boston Celtics in March. Photo: USA Today Sports

With Kim Kardashian and basketball player J Cole at the 69th NBA All-Star Game in Chicago in 2020. AFP

West and Julia Fox, who briefly dated him after his split with Kim Kardashian, at Paris Fashion Week. Getty Images

The rapper performs during the closing ceremony for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada. AFP

West and Kim Kardashian with Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe. AP

He was a Trump supporter. AP

West on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Los Angeles. AP

He performs at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, in 2010. Rich-Joseph Facun / The National

Running for president in North Charleston. AP

West takes the mic from singer Taylor Swift as she accepts an MTV Video Music Award 2009. He said Beyonce should have won instead. AP Photo

The rapper with his mother Donda in 2007. Getty Images

He arrives for a benefit concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2016. EPA

After grabbing headlines in recent weeks for several controversial moves, including wearing a White Lives Matter T-shirt to Paris Fashion Week, Kanye West, now known as Ye, has announced he's buying social media platform Parler, to protect "conservative opinions".

The right-wing social media app, which has been banned by Apple and Google several times, was used to coordinate the January 6 riots on the US Capitol last year.

West joined the platform today and said: “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves."

A tweet from the app's official account said the acquisition "ensures Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome".

“This deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech," said George Farmer, chief executive of Parlement Technologies, Parler’s parent company.

"Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again. Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative. Parlement will be honoured to help him achieve his goals."

Ye and Parlement expect to close the purchase agreement during the fourth quarter of this year.

This comes after West has made headlines in recent weeks for various controversial actions, with companies beginning to cut ties with the rapper, including US bank JP Morgan Chase which is severing ties with West and his Yeezy Inc brand, effective November 21.

In unaired parts of an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, West also floated a series of conspiracy theories touching on anti-Semitic tropes and suggested that “fake children” were planted outside his house.

They were released days after West's Twitter and Instagram accounts were locked over anti-Semitic posts.

The Anti-Defamation League condemned West's posts as “deeply troubling, dangerous, and antisemitic [sic]”.

Scroll through the gallery below to see Kanye West's style evolution