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'Troll move or marketing': Kanye West and Candace Owens slammed for flaunting 'White Lives Matter' shirt

'Everyone here knows that I am the leader … you can’t manage me. This is an unmanageable situation,' said Kanye West during the Yeezy fashion show

PARIS, FRANCE: Kanye West shocked the public as he arrived for the Yeezy special fashion show on Monday, October 3 in Paris, France with a black sweatshirt with the slogan 'White Lives Matter.' He was joined by Candace Owens who recently called Kanye's ex, Kim Kardashian a 'prostitute.'

Kanye's daughter North West was also a part of the event. The 'White Lives Matter' is a movement that came in response to the 'Black Lives Matter' which was initiated after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman.

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According to The Guardian, the sweatshirt also had a photo of Pope John Paul II on the front. It was worn by the models during the walk. “Everyone here knows that I am the leader … you can’t manage me. This is an unmanageable situation," said Kanye during the special show. Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League has categorized the phrase, 'White Lives Matter', as a hate statement. The show signifies the return of Kanye's high-ended fashion business after he abruptly ended his collaboration with Gap and Adidas in September. 

Kanye holds a history of being outspoken and controversial while making statements about various issues, reports Forbes. Previously, in a discussion with TMZ in 2018, he claimed that slavery in the US, “sounds like a choice." Later, in 2020 as he was running for the presidential election, Kanye stated that Harriet Tubman “never actually freed the slaves” and “just had the slaves go work for other white people.” 

He was also criticized as he wore 'Trump’s Make America Great Again hats' when he visited the former president. He then made a public statement saying, "one of my favorite of many things about what the Trump hat represents to me is that people can’t tell me what to do because I’m Black.” Earlier this year, Kanye was temporarily banned from Instagram for calling Trevor Noah a racial slur. As the controversy evolved, he spoke to Wall Street Journal and said, “It reminded me of how I felt as a Black guy before I was famous when I would walk in a restaurant and people would look at you like you were going to steal something. ‘This is your place, Ye, don’t talk about apparel. This is your place, Ye, you’re Black, so you’re a Democrat.’”

'Dangerously Dumb'

Netizens were quick to react to this move by Kanye, Popular singer, Jayden Smith tweeted, "Black Lives Matter", and he added on another tweet, "True Leaders Lead." Jemele Hill's tweet read, "So many folks are trying to excuse Kanye wearing a white lives matter t-shirt as just a troll move or marketing. Maybe it is. But it’s a dangerously dumb message to send for someone with his massive platform. I been off dude. But y’all go ahead labeling his foolishness as genius." A user tweeted, "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." Meanwhile, Marc Lamont Hill tweeted, "Kanye West decision to wear a “White Lives Matter” shirt is disgusting, dangerous, and irresponsible. Some of y’all will rush to defend him. You should ask yourselves why…"

A user stated, "Whether it's Lauren Boebert or Majorie Taylor Greene saying dumb shit like "democrats have already started the killings" or Kanye West and Candace Owens wearing dumb shit like 'White Lives Matter' shirts... THEY JUST WANT ATTENTION. Please stop giving it to them." Another user claimed, "Kanye west going from “george bush doesn’t care about Black people” to kanye west not caring about Black people is wild. wishing him nothing but the worst." Exavier Pope claimed in his tweet, "Strange Kanye West would wear a “White Lives Matter” shirt at a show essentially begging for white industry approval in the fashion industry."

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