Artists respond after Kanye West wears ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt at Paris Fashion Week

nme.com:

Balenciaga’s Paris Fashion Week show over the weekend, Kanye West introduced his latest Yeezy line with his Yzy Season 9 event on Monday.During the live-streamed presentation, the rapper wore a longsleeve shirt with the words “White Lives Matter” emblazoned on the back.

As Rolling Stone points out, the phrase – an appropriation of the Black Lives Matter slogan used to protest racial injustice, discrimination and police brutality – has been adopted by white supremacist organisations in recent years, and is categorised by the Anti-Defamation League as a hate slogan.While at the event, West was photographed standing next to conservative Black commentator Candace Owens – who has been vocally critical of the Black Lives Matter movement – who was also wearing a shirt with the words “White Lives Matter” on the back.Kanye West and Candace Owens wearing “White Lives Matter” shirts at his fashion show in Paris.

pic.twitter.com/eJekZ8cGhe— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 3, 2022After photos emerged from the event, artists such as Jaden Smith and Boosie responded to West’s controversial choice of attire.

The former shared a series of Tweets explaining that he left West’s event because he didn’t “feel the message”, declaring that “Black Lives Matter” and “True Leaders Lead”.In a sternly worded Tweet of his own, too, Boosie wrote: “AFTER ALL WE BEEN THROUGH AS A RACE YOU PUT THIS DISRESPECTFUL SHIT ON.