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Kanye West banned from Instagram after violating hate speech and bullying policies

Ye's account will not be allowed to post for 24 hours.
Image: Kanye West, Celebrity Sightings In New York City - January 05, 2022
Kanye West in N.Y., on Jan. 5, 2022.Gotham / GC Images file
/ Source: TODAY

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has been temporarily put on an Instagram time-out after apparently violating the company’s policies.

Content from his account, @kanyewest, has been deleted for violating policies on hate speech, bullying and harassment, a Meta spokesperson confirmed Wednesday night.

Earlier in the day, the musician reportedly posted a photo of comedian Trevor Noah and captioned it with racial slurs. TODAY has not seen the original posts — which have since been deleted — though several media outlets have screenshots. 

Noah had discussed the ongoing fallout surrounding Ye’s divorce from reality star Kim Kardashian in a segment on “The Daily Show” on Tuesday night. In it, Noah encouraged fans to not make jokes about the situation. 

“It’s spun into a story that seems fully tabloid but I think deserves a little more awareness from the general public. … I know everyone thinks it’s a big marketing stunt …,” Noah said in his Tuesday segment. “Two things can be true: Kim likes publicity, Kim is also being harassed. Those things can be happening at the same time.”

Ye’s Instagram is also restricted from posting, commenting and sending direct messages for 24 hours. Additional steps will be taken if Ye continues not to follow Instagram community guidelines, the Meta spokesperson said.

The musician’s account has also recently posted and deleted several things about Kardashian — with whom he shares four children: North, 8, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 2 — and her boyfriend, comedian Pete Davidson. 

Some of Ye’s posts from Wednesday’s spree were still up as of 10 p.m. ET, including one slamming D.L. Hughley, and another promoting the music festival Coachella with a screenshot from his recent music video that appears to show a decapitated Davidson in Claymation

Reps for the musician declined to respond to TODAY’s request for comment. 

Kardashian and the “Saturday Night Live” star made their relationship Instagram official on Friday. In a clip released Wednesday, Kardashian said Davidson had actually branded her name on his chest.

Davidson’s friend, comedian Dave Sirus, last week released alleged text messages between the musician and “SNL” star.

Davidson appeared to have texted West first and said, “Yo it’s Skete,” referring to the derogatory nickname West has repeatedly used for him. “Can you please take a second and calm down.”

The tense exchange showed the men exchanging barbs while Davidson also offered to meet privately to speak.

Davidson’s final text said: “But if you continue to press me like you have for the past 6 months I’m gonna stop being nice.”

West is not the first celebrity to be banned by the platform. After the January 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol, the company suspended former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. He remains banned until January 2023, when the company plans to re-evaluate.

Ye’s Twitter account has not been active since his failed 2020 presidential campaign.