Rapper Kanye "Ye" West has found himself in the middle of a controversy after he was photographed wearing a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt at his Yeezy fashion in Paris. The shirt bears a photo of Pope John Paul II on the front.
According to Complex, models also walked the ramp wearing the "White Lives Matter" shirts and conservative commentator Candace Owens also wore the shirt in white.
The slogan "White Lives Matter" emerged as a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2015, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The international NGO classifies it as a hate slogan.
Mr West and Ms Owens not just showed support for White Lives Matter, but they also criticised Black Lives Matter. Mr West also posted on his Instagram (now deleted), which read, "Everyone know that Black Lives Matter was a scam now it's over you're welcome," reported CBS.
Mr West was called out for the slogan. Page Six reports that front-row guest Jaden Smith left the show immediately when he saw the designs. Later, Kanye was criticized by many journalists, public figures, and activists.
Jaden Smith took to Twitter to write, "Black Lives Matter" and "True Leaders Lead." He added, "I Don't Care Who's It Is If I Don't Feel The Message I'm Out."
Professor Marc Lamont Hill of Temple University wrote on Twitter, "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..."
After facing backlash from many, Kanye has now issued a statement defending his 'White Lives Matter' T-shirt.
Kanye took to Instagram to share a photo of a black T-shirt and wrote "Here's my latest response when people ask me why I made a tee that says white lives matter... THEY DO".
According to Page Six, Kanye is perplexed by the negative feedback his YZY Season Nine collection received.
"He thinks it's a PC thing," said an insider to Page Six. "He wants to give a voice to the 'other side [of the race debate in America]." They added, "He doesn't understand why people aren't seeing that."
Kanye also brutally ridiculed Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson's sense of fashion for disliking his harshly condemned merchandise.
Later, Gigi Hadid came in support of Gabriella and came down heavily on Kanye in his Instagram post's comment section. Gigi wrote, "You wish u had a percentage of her intellect. You have no idea haha...If there's actually a point to any of your s-t she might be the only person that could save u".
