Kanye West Dons A 'White Lives Matter' Shirt At Fashion Show

In unsurprising news, Ye - the artist formerly known as Kanye West - made wholly unnecessary and offensive choices. Only this time, it was at his Yeezy Season 9 fashion show in Paris on Monday, 3 October. Members in the audience snapped photos and videos of him wearing a "White Lives Matter" long-sleeved shirt, where he later proclaimed himself "the leader". American conservative pundit Candace Owens wore a matching shirt, while models wore it on the runway.

"I am Ye, and everyone here knows that I am the leader" #YZYSZN9 pic.twitter.com/MTo4lPT22L

— Photos Of Ye (@PhotosOfKanye) October 3, 2022

The event was live-streamed, with clips of footage that featured a snippet of an interview with Kim Kardashian, John Lennon discussing the dissolution of The Beatles, a clip of Steve Jobs, and an excerpt of Ye's 2019 interview with David Letterman compiled for the audience, per Complex. 

Following his declaration as "leader," Ye continued, "We did change the look of fashion over the past ten years. We are the streets. We are the culture. And we will not be bullied or treated differently than you treat any other fashion show that might start a little bit later just to present the best idea to you."

Not his first run in controversial fashion decisions, Ye infamously wore the "Make America Great Again" cap while Donald Trump was President of the United States. In 2013, he confused and upset fans with the Confederate flag, which emblazoned his Yeezus tour merchandise.

In May this year, Ye was sued by the Texas-based pastor, Bishop David Paul Moten, who claimed that the Donda track, Come To Life, used an unapproved sample of a sermon. The lawsuit stated, "Come To Life is approximately five minutes and ten seconds in length. Approximately one minute and ten seconds of this sound recording is sampled directly from plaintiffs' sermons and appears to run on a loop underscoring the pre-chorus and chorus throughout the song in question.

"Consequently [at least] 20% of the entire sound recording Come To Life is comprised of unauthorised, unlicensed samples of the sermon."

Ye's three-part Netflix documentary, jeen-yuhs, premiered in February this year. Filmmaking duo Clarence 'Coodie' Simmons and Chike Ozah described it as "an intimate and revealing portrait of Kanye West's experience, showcasing both his formative days trying to break through and his life today as a global brand and artist".