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Rapper and fashion kingpin Kanye West, who last year changed his legal name to Ye, reached a deal in principle Monday to buy conservative social media platform Parler.
“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” said West, in a statement released by Parler.
The announcement comes after West, 45, has faced scrutiny in recent weeks after a series of antisemitic and inflammatory comments through social media.
In an Instagram post, he shared an antisemitic conspiracy theory suggesting fellow rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was being controlled by Jewish people. Meanwhile, West’s Twitter account was restricted after he said he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” Both Twitter and Instagram have since locked the rapper out of his accounts.
Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, but the company said last month it had raised $56 million in external funding. While the deal would see West become principle owner of Parler, the company is likely to keep ties with parent company Parlement Technologies for its private cloud services and data center infrastructure.
West’s net worth is $2 billion, per Forbes. Much of his fortune comes from his Yeezy sneakers brand and partnerships with Gap and Adidas. However, he severed business ties with Gap recently, and Adidas said it’s also reviewing its business relationship with him.
With the purchase of Parler, West follows in the footsteps of an unlikely political ally, former President Donald Trump, who started his own conservative online platform, Truth Social, after he was banned from more mainstream social media sites.
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