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Kanye West’s Praise of Black Lives Matter Critic Met with Backlash from Fans

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Kanye West ignited controversy Saturday when he tweeted in support of a well-known Black Lives Matter detractor.

“I like how Candace [Owens] thinks,” he said April 21. The rapper, who recently returned to Twitter ahead of the reported release of two new albums, didn’t strike the right chord with fans on this post.

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/987696355341553665

Owen is a Black conservative who in addition to backing President Trump and the NRA, has slammed Black Lives Matter backers as having a “victim mentality.”

The shout out led Owens to fangirl and she tweeted, “I’m freaking out. @kanyewest ….please take a meeting with me. I tell every single person that everything that I have been inspired to do, was written in your music. I am my own biggest fan because you made it okay. I need you to help wake up the Black community.”

But many others were not onboard with Ye’s support for her.

“Kanye West really went from ‘George Bush doesn’t care about Black people’ to.. this,” a fan tweeted. “I’ve defended him through and through but Candace Owens, really? I’m actually heartbroken. He been gone.”

“Bruh get this n—- out of here please,” someone else remarked.

“How many times can Kanye signal his affinity for people with anti-Black policies and positions before it takes a toll on how Black fans feel about him?” music critic Touré wondered.

“I can’t believe Kanye West endorsed alt right hero Candace Owens,” another person tweeted. “Scary times indeed.”

“Aside from being an insane alt right race pimp, Candace Owens thinks Donald Trump is literally the messiah not you @kanyewest so you might want to reconsider,” actor Tom Arnold tweeted.

“I am told this is the clip that Kanye saw and loved,” tweeted reporter Shaun King of Owens’ remarks about BLM. “It’s sad actually. For him and for her. A market has always and will always exist for men and women like this who say what bigoted white folk love to hear. They will always have a seat at somebody’s table.”

https://twitter.com/AT_Tunechi/status/987768977861545984

Yet at least one person wasn’t surprised about West, who made headlines when he met with Trump in 2016.

https://twitter.com/StSusanHunt/status/987763864468164610

Still, Owens held her own and posted several tweets knocking her detractors.

 

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