Kanye West returns to Twitter and his first tweets back immediately spark outrage

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By Asiya Ali

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Social media users are displeased with Kanye West's latest tweet after his Twitter account was reinstated this weekend.

The 45-year-old rapper was welcomed back on the social media platform by the new owner Elon Musk, who consolidated his ownership of Twitter during the weeks West - now known as Ye - was offline.

Ye's return marks the latest development in the tumultuous relationship between the social media site and the 'Donda' hitmaker, who was initially restricted for tweeting that he was going "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE" on October 9.

For his return, West first wrote: "Testing Testing Seeing if my Twitter is unblocked," and then five hours later tweeted the Hebrew word "shalom" - often used as a greeting or translated to peace - followed by a smiley face.

Check out his tweets below:

The 'Gold Digger' musician's antisemitism controversy began when he started sharing conspiracy theories on his Instagram page, which many people deemed antisemitic.

He was later slammed by many of his industry counterparts, such as John Legend, who tweeted on October 10: "Weird how all these 'free, independent thinkers' always land at the same old anti-blackness and antisemitism."

In addition, Ye's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, also released a statement on Twitter denouncing "hate speech" against the Jewish community (although she never explicitly cited West in her comments).

Despite it all, the musician stood by his comments and said during an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored on October 21 - before eventually issuing an apology for his comments.

"I fought fire with fire," Ye said. "I’m not here to get hosed down. I’m a different type of freedom fighter."

"I will say I’m sorry for the people I hurt with the 'death con', with the confusion," he added. "I feel like I caused hurt and confusion and I am sorry for the families of the people who had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through. And that I used my platform where you say, I hurt people, and I was hurt."

As a result of his recent behavior, Balenciaga, GAP, Vogue and Anna Wintour, and Adidas all severed ties with the chart-topper, which also resulted in Forbes publishing an article that revealed that Ye was no longer a billionaire.

Now that West has returned to the social media platform, his latest "Shalom" tweet drew adverse reactions from fellow users, with many very disappointed that he was allowed to return to the platform.

Entrepreneur Mark Suster slammed the rapper, writing: "One cute Tweet doesn’t unwind all of the antisemitic vitriol you spouted in the past 60 days. I listened to your interviews. Your opinions are vile. There is no redemption."

Newsweek editor Josh Hammer also chimed in and simply wrote: "It’s all a big game for him. Grotesque."

A third outraged user shared their thoughts on the statement and said: "You openly declare war on us and make death threats, then pull this bulls***? F*** you!! For the sake of everyone, just disappear, just fade into insane oblivion and leave the world alone."

Lastly, a fourth frustrated user commented: "He’s rubbing it in our faces that he can be anti-Semitic and get away with it. Hurts to watch it happen."

West's Twitter account was actually brought back earlier this month - after the 51-year-old's billionaire's purchase went through - and he revealed at that time that he was going on "verbal rest" that clearly didn't last long.

His latest tweets also come as former US president Donald Trump's account was resurrected on the social media app after nearly two years.

The 76-year-old was allowed back after the Tesla founder shared an online poll - which the former president narrowly won - asking users if Trump should come back.

The businessman-turned-president was banned in January 2021 in the wake of the siege at the US Capitol building. While he was known for his reckless tweets, Trump has already indicated that he won't be posting on the app anytime soon as he has already set up his own social network, Truth Social.

Featured image credit: Image Press Agency / Alamy