May 5, 2025
According to Ye’s legal team, the rapper is “art” and can make antisemitic remarks as a freedom of speech.
Ye’s legal team is defending the hostile antisemitic texts he sent to a former staffer as “art” and an expression of his right to free speech.
Attorneys representing the embattled hip-hop and fashion mogul filed court documents on April 30 in response to a lawsuit brought by a former employee, who accuses Ye (real name Kanye West) of sending a string of “belligerent, abusive, harassing, antisemitic, and otherwise offensive” text messages in June 2024, Page Six reports.
According to Ye’s lawyers, the rapper “is art,” and the texts were merely “works” that “plainly reflect [West]’s artistic critique of censorship, identity, and beauty standards, and which were wholly consistent with his public artistry and presentation long before [the former staffer] explicitly sought employment.”
In the controversial texts, Ye is seen telling the former staffer, “Shut the f**k up b*tch,” “Hail Hitler,” and “You ugly as fu*k.” In one exchange, the Hollywood publicist urged Ye to denounce Nazism following backlash over the Nazi-inspired cover art for his Vultures Vol. 1 album. Instead of heeding the advice, the “Stronger” rapper replied, “I am A NAZI.”
Attorneys for the musician say Ye “is” art, and anything he says is protected under the First Amendment, even in his “private communications.”
“[West] is not merely a creator; he is art. Like [19th Century German composer] Richard Wagner’s concept of Gesamtkunstwerk—a ‘total work of art’ integrating music, drama, and stagecraft,” the lawyers wrote. “[West’s] public and private personas form a continuous, provocative performance that challenges societal taboos surrounding race, religion, gender, power, politics, and censorship. Whether on stage, in the studio, online, or in private communications, [West] is constantly engaged in artistic expression protected by the First Amendment and California’s free speech guarantees.”
Ye has bigger battles brewing with the May 1 release of his Donda 2 album. Though recorded in 2022, the newly dropped project has stirred fresh drama, with producers demanding payment for beats they claim to have contributed.
It looks like the producers will have to get in line when it comes to taking legal action against the disgraced rap mogul.
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